[the Angel Gabriel speaking to Mary]
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will REIGN over Jacob’s descendants FOREVER; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For NO WORD FROM GOD WILL EVER FAIL.”

When I think of the people or things I have counted on in life, they are numerous. I am a bit of a risk taker and believer in people. I have counted on people in the church and outside the church, at work and at home, and in authority or underneath my authority — and some of these relationships proved untrustworthy. Others, who I have counted on, delivered and stood by me and their promises, for the most part. These are people I trust. But even they let me down from time to time, and I let them down sometimes. But “no Word from God will ever fail!” This is a promise I can “take to the bank” — 100% OF THE TIME God keeps his promises.

The angel does two things to validate his word from God for the young Mary: 1) he appears to her, and 2) he reveals to her that Elizabeth is with child. No doubt once Mary hears the story of how Elizabeth became pregnant, this will strengthen her faith! Mary is to give birth to one who will reign over all and he will be the Son of God. What a huge privilege and what an honor. Sometimes God’s goodness is too hard to believe. How does she become pregnant without a husband to impregnate her? How will she raise the Son of God, being imperfect herself? These types of question must have been running through her head. And the angel Gabriel knew this. He said: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” In this one sentence we have the keys to our “how can we” questions in life too. “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” ‭‭(Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬)

Lord, thank you for this passage and how you communicated with Mary. I appreciate how you were patient and reinforced your hand with her and gave her some proofs of your faithfulness. And you provided the angel Gabriel and later your Holy Spirit to come over her. Help me to trust you and stay faithful to you in the trial. You will provide for me too!