Luke 1:30-38

Luke 1:30-38 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 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 the house of Jacob 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 upon 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 barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

For nothing is impossible with God is an important concept we need to keep in our minds. When circumstances or situations seem impossible, we need to go to our knees and ask God to make a way where there is no way. Many of us are in that place right now. We believe things are impossible in our lives. We cannot see a clear path ahead of us. We cannot extricate ourselves from the dead end street we face; we just do not know where to turn or the next step to take. Well, the scriptures are still true: nothing is impossible with God. Notice, Gabriel told Mary that Jesus would be great. Might she have questioned these words at Jesus' crucifixion? A great person on a cross, humiliated by the Romans, rejected by the Jews? Wasn't this the ultimate dead end? How could those words of greatness be true, even though an angel conveyed them? Yet, as we know, Mary wasn't privileged to the whole story. She was finite, a temporary resident on this earth. She could not possibly envision that her Jesus would even determine how civilized men record time.

We also cannot envision the whole story of our lives. Even when we are seemingly at a dead end, when we are certain nothing good can come from our present situation, God can bring greatness from our lives. He has made each of us special, called us to fulfill a specific role in the body of Christ. Our response to his will is important: I am the Lord’s servant. I have declared in my heart: may it be to me as you have said. God cannot go back on his word. He might not fulfill our desires, but He will make us great in the kingdom of God if we are his willing servants. Does servanthood or obedience necessarily mean we will be delivered from all the dead ends? No, not necessarily, but God does bless us, and He allows us to bless others with our lives. He even extends those blessing to following generations. God is never through with an obedient servant.

Of course, Jesus Christ was and is the Lord, our Redeemer, Savior, King. He had a special, unique message to carry to the world. His kingdom will never end as the angel stated. But our place in Christ also will never end. We, too, bring glory to Father God by our willingness to be his servants, to fulfill his purposes on Earth. Nothing is impossible with God: He took fallen man and made him a glory to God, seemingly an impossible task. To take you out of your present circumstances might seem impossible in your eyes, but nothing is impossible with God. Therefore, have faith, put action to your faith. Believe for the best, but always remember you are a servant, and a servant does that which his master desires him to do. Are all things that happen to us God's will? No, not all things are God's will, but all things can be put in God's domain by giving the situations back to him as a servant. He can make the imperfect, perfect. He can bring justice out of injustice. He can provide provisions when provisions are not there. Let us pray, "Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We can ask God to provide for us today. Let Gabriel's words be true in our lives: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD. And may Mary's answer ring through the ages through the lips of all God's beloved children, May it be to me as you have said.