Mary's Question

When you're up against it and God's promise is knocking on the door of your heart, calling out your name, you'll likely respond to his word with one of two questions -

“How can I be sure of this?" ¹

or

"How will this be?" ²

On the surface, the two questions might appear to be asking the same thing - but they are actually quite different in their expressed posture.

The first is saying, "What you're telling me is quite impossible, so I'm going to need an explanation, some proof that this can actually be carried out." Zecharia, a priest righteous in the eyes of God, asked this question of an angel, an angel bringing him the news that his barren wife would soon conceive and give birth to a boy.

Zecharia. Life-experienced. A ministry resume that would awe many of his younger cohorts. No doubt familiar with the wearisome disappointments life can dole out. Maybe feeling stuck in a rut, ready to trade in his threadbare life for a set of new clothes. But then a spark of hope comes, the promise of new life, the possibility of a dead dream come back from the grave. And his doubt encapsulates the angel's words.

Maybe you've been there. Life has become weary to you, worn out by the passing years. Disappointment is no stranger to you. And when the spark of hope comes, you're tempted to frame the promise of God in your experiences instead of his faithfulness and ability. ³ I've been there, and I want you to know there is a better way in believing. ⁴

Mary's response was not fueled by doubt, but rather by a desire to know how the God nothing is too difficult for would carry out such an impossible task. Young Mary, who would one day place the crisis of a shortage of wine at a wedding feast into the capable hands of her Son, ⁵ here, with that same spirit of faith, placed her faith in the promise of her God. She had asked and she had received. ⁶

It's important to consider the difference we see between Zecharia's and Mary's experiences.

The outcome of Zecharia's response? Silence. The result of Mary's humble belief? Praise. Rejoicing. Oh, Zecharia did see the Lord's promise fulfilled, and his lips were freed from his silence, but, and I don't know about you, I'd rather walk the road to the fulfillment of his promise for me rejoicing, leaping, shouting, with a jump in my step rather than a muted existence. Can I encourage you to lay aside the Murphy's Laws of life, the loud voice of past bad experiences, and embrace, as Mary did, the unconquerable power of God to do what he says he will do?

I think you'll find that road to be far better.

References

¹ Luke 1:18 - Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."

² Luke 1:34 - “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³ Mark 9:23 - “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

⁴ John 20:27 - Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

⁵ John 2:1-11 - the wedding feast at Cana.

⁶ Matthew 7:7 - Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.