Day 7: The Promise of Faith
Scripture to meditate on: Luke 1:39-56 Mary’s Song of Faith
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Devotional:
Like Mary’s searching for solidarity by going to visit Elizabeth, her relative also facing an unexpected pregnancy in light of God’s plans, I have also desired community with others and have come to see God in medias res—in the midst of things. I have a friend who at one point was going through a rough time, and I had to recognize that I needed to take a break from our friendship and could no longer help other than pray for her. During that difficult time, I had another friend come along into my life. I sat alone in the middle school cafeteria and he would come with a twenty-person entourage of friends. Once the first table’s twelve seats were taken up, my newfound friend would literally drag the table that I sat at to the occupied table and the group sat down around me and began to include me in their conversations. At the time, I simply thought it was crazy that anyone would drag the table I was actively sitting and eating at to their table, but I now see how important that truly was to me. Eventually, the school administration said rearranging tables was not allowed, but for those few short months, that was the community I needed, and in that I now see God surrounding me with people I could just be with. Sometimes all you need is people to be with you.
From Moses’ rejoicing after leading the Israelites across the Red Sea, to the Psalms praising God’s faithfulness through all our strife, our worship through music demonstrates our desire and need for the Father, the only constant in our lives. Mary’s song of faith is no exception to this. It’s her song of faith—not her song of denial, not her song of complaint, and not her song of refusal. Her song of faith. One of the incredible things about Mary’s faith is that she was willing to put her desires aside for God to work through her, despite likely being a teenager. As a 15-year-old, someone the potential age of Mary when Jesus was born, this is sometimes hard to believe. However, this only further proves that she exemplifies abundant faith, thus giving us a role model who had one of the most difficult job descriptions the world has ever seen. Because she had the faith to do what seemed impossible, we have hope that what may seem like only a mustard seed faith will blossom into a massive bush, taking over even the worst weeds of earthly life.
Questions to ponder:
- What does this passage say about God?
- What does this passage say about me or my relationships?
- What should I do in light of this passage?
