“God, how are you going to do this?”
I felt like I have faced the impossible this year and seen God move in miraculous ways. Yet even now, there are situations big and small that seem impossible. I can’t control them. I can’t fix them.
A while ago, I was reading through Luke and noticed the two passages below right next to each other in the account of the events before Jesus’ birth (I am highlighting the parts that stood out to me that occur in both passages). In both, an angel of the Lord appears before people with important news:
“And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (Luke 1:11-19, ESV)
And then this happens:
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:26-38 ESV)
It had never occurred to me before that Luke is setting up both a parallel and a contrast in these two stories.
I see the angel coming to both Zechariah and Mary in great glory and power. He comforts them both and tells them not to be afraid, that they have found favor with God.
Then, they are invited to participate in something grander and bigger than they can imagine. It is the coming of a now and future Kingdom, and of a King beyond all kings.
Zechariah and Mary both react with questions.
Zechariah asks, “How shall I know this?”
Mary asks, “How will this be?”
Perhaps Zechariah is understandably exhausted and worn down by so many years of infertility and crushed hopes. The angel says that because Zechariah did not believe his words, he will be unable to speak until his son John’s birth. Zechariah will still see the promised fulfilled, but he will do it silently. Is this not a grace in itself?
Mary reacts with a question too, but it is a question that comes from faith: “How will you do this thing?” And when the angel explains that it will happen through the mighty Spirit of God, she commits herself to God’s will. We also see Mary, like Zechariah, silently pondering the works of God:
“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19 ESV)
Are you facing the impossible? Are there areas of your life where you need the mighty power of God to come in and save, redeem, set right, heal, make whole?
Today, whether you can react in Mary’s faith or can only muster Zechariah’s tired doubt, God greets you with his favor. He meets you with his bountiful mercy and unmerited grace. He greets you and your whole world with news of his kingdom come in Jesus. God is on the move. God is already here.
For the smallest details of your life and for the biggest issues of your world, we can turn to God and ask, “How will this be?”
And then we get to watch silently and ponder the mighty ways of God with us.
“For nothing will be impossible with God.“
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