Thoughts for the Day

Luke 1:26-33 …Gabriel greeted [Mary], “Good morning! … God has a surprise for you … “

Have you had the experience of reading a child their favourite bedtime story for the umpteenth time?  You know where it is going and surely they must too, but woe betide you miss out a single detail.  Somehow it remains fresh to them in a way it doesn’t to adults.  And so with this passage.  We know where the story is going.  Gabriel appears to Mary and is about to drop the bombshell that she is going to become pregnant and give birth to Jesus.   It is hard to read it as if for the very first time and to appreciate the outrageousness of the detail.  Reading a different version of the Bible can help, which is why today I’ve quoted extracts from The Message version of Gabriel’s words.  It may come across as the most phenomenal understatement, but that itself jolts us into viewing it with fresh eyes!

Still, even if we do slow down and give ourselves space to consider and marvel at what took place, it remains a unique event.  Is there, then, any application from the passage we can we draw from it for ourselves?  We do not doubt God knew what He was doing, we do not question that He chose the right person, and we feel confident that Gabriel spoke to her at the right time with the right message.  But is that because of our confidence in God or simply because we know the story and its outcome?

As Christians we are taught that each of us is gifted in some way for the wider good.  In all likelihood Gabriel hasn’t visited, and won’t visit, you or me with such clear directions.  So, when we sense, or someone suggests, a particular area that we should consider, we have legitimate excuse to ask Zechariah’s question, “How can I be sure?”  It is part of our journey to wrestle with identifying what we are called to do.  But once we have recognised something, shouldn’t we be similarly confident that God knows what He is doing?  Shouldn’t we be equally certain that he has chosen the right person at the right time for the right thing?  Mary’s calling may have been unique, but the nature of her response is an example and a challenge to us all.