Looking at Obstacles or Looking at God’s Great Work
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” ’
Alright, this is our last day on this, really.
Remember this was a real event and you might wonder, why wasn’t Mary shamed? Why wasn’t Mary embarrassed? Or what about Elizabeth, did she not know that Mary wasn’t married to Joseph yet? Joseph was going to divorce her quietly until he had a dream. Elizabeth doesn’t mention a dream or anything like that.
Elizabeth was already carrying a miracle. The miracle of Zechariah being unable to speak and then her pregnancy in old age was a testament that God was up to something. When Mary showed up and baby John leapt around, the Holy Spirit confirmed something to both of these women.
They were open and on the lookout for God to be doing things.
God got their attention and from then on they were watching to see what He’d do next.
We all know those people that are seeing angels and demons in everything that happens from where your car breaks down to the flavor of the month at Culver’s. If you don’t know anyone like that, check to see if you are the one everyone else knows. I’m not talking about being that person.
But God really is at work in our everyday lives, and we can be predisposed to notice it or not.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
Many scriptures and people in the scriptures point to praying and then watching to see what God does. Waiting on the Lord and being patient for Him come up over and over.
I think Mary and her people were waiting for so long for a Messiah that they didn’t care what kind of entrance He made. If it embarrassed her, who cares! God is bringing down the mighty and feeding the hungry with the coming of the Messiah! While some moms worry about stretch marks, others confidently say “who cares, I’ve got a baby!” And from the song of Mary here, I think she’s in the latter group.
She is so overjoyed at what God is doing, she isn’t getting bogged down in negatives or problems. She is watching and celebrating the work of God in her life, and seeing how it fits in the big picture for all of her people.
Yes, difficulties abound, but seeing them in God’s context and in His active-still-at-work-love, we are able to praise Him and watch for more.
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