"favor" - kindness; approval; partiality; friendly regard from a superior, to endow with spiritual blessing or special grace.
The scripture "nothing is impossible with God" literally just popped into my brain. I couldn't remember the reference for that verse, so I went to good ol' BibleGateway.com and did a keyword search. This verse is found in Luke 1:37. It's from the story of Mary the mother of Jesus when she hears from the angel Gabriel that she has become pregnant with God's Son and that her "barren" cousin, Elizabeth, is in her sixth month of pregnancy.
Mary amazes me. Here she is engaged to be married, planning a wedding and an actual angel appears to her in person and tells her she's pregnant - BAM! Just like that. And not to add any pressure or anything, but she happens to be carrying God's one and only Son. What was running through her mind? I would be thinking, "How am I going to tell my fiance? What is everyone going to think?"
Check out Mary's response:
"I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true." (Luke 1:38)
WOW!
And then when Mary goes to visit her cousin, Elizabeth says it all -
"You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said." (Luke 1:45)
I think Mary was a "favored woman" because she had this kind of faith and trust before the angel appeared to her. I think that she got picked to play one of the most amazing roles in history because she was "the Lord's servant" in her everyday life. I think she was probably human enough in the moment to be surprised by the news, at least a little bit, but her response in that same moment is astounding. Mary's level of emotional stability is just "holy wow" crazy.
I pray to God that I can develop that kind of faith and trust in moments of uncertainty, of surprise, of insecurity. I want to be a "favored woman"... one that God can trust with a history-changing role...a woman that is blessed because I believe that the Lord will do what he says he will do.
Becky-
ReplyDeleteI love the visitation! This is one of the scriptures that accompanies the prayers of the rosary that Catholics are encouraged to pray faithfully. Catholic devotion to Mary is something that is often misunderstood by some protestant faithful. I couldn't have explained the importance of Mary any better myself! She was chosen, out of all of the women in eternity to bear God's Son. How could she not be someone that all people (but especially women) hold in high esteem? The Hail Mary says, "Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the time of our death." As Catholics, we pray for Mary's guidance to be women of faith and devotion, as she was. My husband once said, when discussing Mary and Joseph as a married couple, the kind of married couple we should all strive to be, that Joseph took care of the Church when it was only made up (here on Earth) of Mary and Jesus. What an amazing family! Love the blog- so great to be able to share in these kinds of conversations! XOXOXO
Emily,
ReplyDeleteMary certainly is an amazing woman! One of my favorite authors, Francine Rivers, wrote a series of books called A Lineage of Grace. All of the books feature women in the lineage of Jesus, including Mary, of course. The title of her book is "Unafraid." Rivers profiles Mary as a woman of obedience. It's a really neat perspective on her role in God's plan of redemption for the whole world. It's very good and I highly recommend it. (Any book by Francine Rivers is an excellent read.)