Finding Favor

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  Luke 1:30 (NIV)

Luke walks us through the stories of people who were visited by messengers of the Lord.  Now he tells us of another young lady who is approached by an angel.  He tells her that she will have a Son.  This troubles her because even though she is engaged to be married, she has not been with her husband.  Just like Zechariah she cannot see how it could be true.  It goes against what all humans know to be possible in the natural system we live in.  But do we get a sense of hope in the Lord when we read of her response?  It troubles her to hear such a drastic and impossible message.  But she lets her hope and her sense of wonder take over.  At the mention of God, does she check herself?  Do we get the sense that she realizes that when it comes to the question of God, there is much that she doesn´t know?  Before her stands an impossible apparition with an even more inconceivable message.  Yet because he mentions the word God, she turns to wonder.

The angel tells Mary that she has found favor with God.  Could this be because the Almighty up in His Heaven knew this woman?  Could it be that He sent a message to her because He knew what kind of response she would have?  Could it be that He had seen a heart and a soul ready and willing to set aside all that it knew of the world around it?  Could it be that God knew that Mary would lift her heart up to Him in wonder even though she could find no other proof from her knowledge of the world and how it works?  Was it because she hoped in the Lord before she turned to science or hard evidence?

Could the beauty of the story of the Virgin Mary be in the fact that God had found a heart after His own?  Could we appreciate it because we see a normal person receiving favor direct from the Creator?  Was our Maker pleased to find a woman on earth that could actually set her hopes on His Word instead of turn to what she knew of her environment?  Did it fit into His plan to make a woman of this size of faith, to be the earthly mother of His Son?  Can we rejoice along with her because she trusted in what the Lord conveyed unto her?

If we are able to see beauty in such simple yet compelling faith, would it be a quality to seek in our lives?  Might we want to hope for beautiful and wonderful things?  Could we hope after things that we cannot see any possibility of happening?  Could it be a desirable thing to look away from what we know and let our hearts hope after the good will and favor of God?  Do we think that God in Heaven would be pleased to find that kind of faith in us?  Would it be worth striving for now?  Could even the possibility of receiving the Lord´s favor be a good thing for us still today?

Dear Lord, today we read of people who lived through impossible situations.  From what we know of the world around us sometimes we cannot see how You and your ways can be.  But we have seen others before us receive favor by placing their hope and faith in You.  Please hear our plea and allow our hearts to be opened towards You.  May we too find hope where our understanding does not reach.  Let our hope rise towards You that we can also receive favor in Your eyes.

Amen