23rd December 2022

How Can This Be?

Then Mary said to the angel,

“How can this be, since I (am a virgin) do not know a man.”

Luke 1:34

For Mary, the news came too soon. Unlike her relative Elizabeth, who was married, and much older in years, and was said to be barren, Mary was a young, unmarried woman. She had a future. Her whole life was ahead of her. However, like her uncle Zechariah, she was greatly troubled when the angel Gabriel appeared to her. When she heard the announcement that she was to give birth to a son who would be great and whose kingdom would never end, she asked, “How will this happen since I am a virgin“How can this be, since I do not know a man.?”

Sometimes we can feel that God's call to service comes too soon. We have not been prepared to do what is asked of us. We feel that we do not have the age, the education, the training, or the experience that is needed. Humanly speaking, we think that what is being asked of us is impossible. But when Mary asked how this could be, the angel said that the power of the Lord would overshadow her. Gabriel then told Mary that Elizabeth was expecting a child even in her old age, and he added, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).

Gabriel’s words assure us that God brings about His salvation in ways we cannot begin to imagine. Then, the Bible say in v 38, that Mary answering said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” Mary became a mentor for all who trust, even if we think the call comes too soon.

Read

Luke 1:26-38.

Prayer

Almighty God, You give life to the dead and call into being things that are not. Help me to respond to Your call in the confidence that nothing is impossible with You. In Jesus name, Amen.