In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”

–Parallel verses:
Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭25‬-‭32‬
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

I find that many things in life can “trouble” us: getting lost in a crowd, losing a job, being attacked or vulnerable, a very tough trial or challenge, a problem with a solution that eludes us, etc. I remember one time when my brother, Chris and I lived in Canada, we were riding our bikes home from school, and decided to go in the mud, off the path. The snow had just melted and what we didn’t know was this mud was a few feet thick. Well, let’s just say we got really stuck. My Dad had to lay down some boards to get us out. My brother lost his shoe. But while we were standing there, after we struggled and struggled, we were troubled. Would anyone find us? How would we ever get out? Would we have to eat our meals there? Kids can blow things out of proportion pretty easily, and so can we as adults.

Mary, the virgin pledged to Joseph, was troubled here at the sight of the angel and then at what the angel told her. Imagine the things racing through her mind: Who is this stranger? Why is he here? Why does he say I am “highly favored”? (Maybe she was shy and humble and just liked to be in the background.) Whatever the reason, she was troubled. And we see that God’s angel-servant tells her: “Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.”

And we have a second story today, the story of Peter, who wanted to be faithful, but was also fearful. He volunteered to walk to Jesus, but the circumstances of life (the wind and the waves) caused him to take his eyes off Jesus. And he started to sink. He was no longer on top of the chaos but right in the middle of it.

So, we have a quiet, probably shy young lady and an outspoken, big sailor — and they were both troubled. Reality is … we all wrestle with being troubled.

Jesus came to earth to save us. God wants to UN-TROUBLE our lives. He wants us to trust instead of be troubled. It is a process for most of us. We must work at trusting God. He is worthy of our trust, but we hesitate to trust him at times. We may think “he is too busy”, or “he doesn’t care because he didn’t act like we wanted him to”, or “what if he doesn’t come through for me?”

But GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS WORD. He is the definition of trustworthy! What will I trust him with today?

Lord, thank you for recording this part of the story where Mary is troubled. I can relate. Un-trouble me and help me to trust you and step into your place of trust where I can receive your peace!