46 And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
There is a huge myth that invades the minds of those who come, in faith, to God for comfort and peace.
The Myth is: when you are God’s child, when you are faithful to God -- whatever that means -- you won’t experience tragedy or pain.
Now, it is true that God promises the blessing of comfort and peace.
God also promises strength and courage.
And it is true that Jesus promised to ease our load:
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Mt. 11:30)
However, if you notice, the promise doesn’t exclusion of the load. As a matter of fact scripture is clear the trials will occur, challenges will confront us, struggles will invade our peaceful existence.
The promise is that God will be with you through whatever you face.
You see, whether it is nature, or human, or animal; there are cycles in the human existence.
Just as there are the cycles of nature and seasons of the year.
There are storms, earthquakes, hot day and cold, cool breezes, cloudy skies, sunshine upon the earth; and those simply in-between days of partly sunny and the chance of rain.
God never promised nature, nor human life, with our highs and lows, mountains and valleys would not come.
Scripture is filled with those analogies of nature’s turmoil used to explain God’s presence in the midst of the struggle.
Earthquake, tornados, and floods will come, no doubt, almost guarantied.
But the Psalmist tells us we are to: Be still and know that I am God.
“Be still,” --- that is remember.
Remember, God will not leave you, God will be with you, You are not alone. So trust in me to get you through.
Let me use an unquestionable example of what I”m trying to convey: Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
For a moment think Mary.
As she sings her song of praise, to Elizabeth, in her mountain top of emotion. She is overwhelmed with gratitude — estate with joy. God has touches her in a most personal way.
“He has done great things for me” she sings.
She is filled with total rejoicing; because God has honored her, blessed her, chosen her to bear his son.
A totally a WOW moment.
There can be no question that Mary has found favor with God.
Right?
She is surely blessed.
We all, most of us anyway, have those wow moments, large or small.
Now I invite you to think about what that blessing creates in Mary’s life. First, this child of God was born in a dirty stable among farm animals. That certainly could not have been easy.
Then, Mary and Joseph had to flee, in fear, to Egypt to avoid King Herod’s wrath.
Later, she watches her grown son mocked and ridiculed, hunted down; because of his stance on life; and his claims of sonship to God.
To top it off, she had to stand at the foot of the cross as he hung dying a shameful death.
I have to wonder if Mary ever asked the famous question — Why.?”
So let's get this straight. Blessings are just that. Things that bring joy into our lives beyond expression.
However they never are the promise of no pain, not struggle.
Just like any created thing: plant, animal, natural formation or seasonal cycle. We have our greeting of Spring — new life. And our calling winter dormancy.
Nothing living can avoid the ebbs and tides of life’s natural flow of shedding and growing, dying and living again.
The myth is insistent, if we walk with God, nothing “bad” will happen.
That all will be peace and light.
Not so!
Yet questions like these are asked: What did I do to deserve this?
What did Mary do?
And, actually that is the point.
When we live in a world of unknowns, bad things will happen to good people.
The promise?
God will provide the stuff of strength and perseverance to survive the storms.
God will bring us to a place of growth, first, and then peace once again.
God will do that.
He certainly did for Mary.
However, he doesn’t seem to be obliged to pick us up out of our unpleasantness, dust us off and make us all better instantly.
That my friend is make believe.
God put us here to live in faith through what life offers. To grow in the experience to another level of living. These are referred to as learning experiences whether we like it or not.
God never promised a fairytale life. God does promise provision, presence and gracious hand to hold.
Our job is to hold on tight to that promise; and walk through it a in faith that God will indeed see us through.
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
46 And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ (Luke 1)
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