How Mary’s Faith Inspires Our Walk with God
Discover the powerful lessons of faith, courage, and trust from Mary’s response to Gabriel’s announcement. A story of holy risks and waiting on God unfolds.
Mary Experiences the Metaphysical
Our story opens with something metaphysical happening, meaning outside of our natural understanding.
The first thing is that an angel appears, which I can’t speak for you, but that’s not my everyday experience. It should be noted that only two angels are identified in the Bible: Michael, the archangel, and Gabriel, who is perhaps second in authority to Michael and may also be an archangel. Gabriel appeared to Daniel, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and now Mary.
The second metaphysical moment is what Gabriel shares. The angel informs Mary, a teenager, that she will have a child unaided by the seed of man. This child would be God in a body!
However, before Gabriel tells Mary her assignment, the angel emphasizes the presence of God that was uniquely and wonderfully present with Mary.
“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.” Luke 1:35-37
Gabriel helps Mary understand that God is moving supernaturally and metaphysically. If Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, who is past her child-bearing years, is now pregnant through a miracle from God, then He’s also doing a miracle in Mary.
Luke testified at the beginning of his gospel that he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” and set out to write an “orderly account.” Luke was a careful historian, and most scholars believe Luke interviewed Mary herself about what occurred. Let’s be clear: That tells us that Luke did not invent the idea of the virgin birth; instead, he learned about it. The virgin conception is the most natural understanding of the words of Scripture, which clearly states that this conception was a unique work of God.
If you’ve ever been to a state fair, there’s a good chance you saw, or maybe even ate, a candied apple. While an apple is nutrient-dense, however, when you dip it in caramel or candy, it dilutes its nutritional value. In the same sense, when we take the revelation of Scripture, which opens with, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), and we humanize our perspective of the metaphysical and supernatural, we dilute the Gospel power.
For a story such as this, we must recognize that it exemplifies what God has done, is doing, and continues to do in His power. Thus, this is part of why Luke, a logical and deductive physician, appealed to the miraculous birth of Elizabeth, so the reader is aware that God was doing something outside of what we’d consider normative.
God is moving with great power, and He gave Mary great revelation. From this story, we begin to see some of the characteristics that emanated from Mary’s life and how they can have revelation in our lives.
How We Can Respond in Faith Like Mary Demonstrated
Mary Embraced Holy Risk
Mary modeled something significant for believers: She was willing to follow the Lord despite knowing she would be misunderstood. Let this be an encouragement that it is difficult, if not impossible, to be a follower of Jesus. We will be misunderstood and even criticized for following God and His will.
This wasn’t limited to Mary’s experience and can be considered normative for believers. In the Book of Acts, we see that as the church advances through the disciples’ bold proclamation of the gospel, there is pushback left and right. Throughout the entire book, the church is highly criticized and misunderstood. But the disciples take on a holy risk for God.
We even see this in our own Methodist history. God used a man named John Wesley to birth the Methodist movement. After a spiritual awakening, he began proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in purity and faced much scrutiny and misunderstanding. Look at this entry from Wesley’s journal about the criticism he faced:
Sunday, AM, May 5: Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday, PM, May 5: Preached in St. John’s. Deacons said, ‘Get out and stay out.’
Sunday, AM, May 12: Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there, either.
Sunday, AM, May 19: Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Deacons called a special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
Sunday, PM, May 19: Preached on the street. Kicked off the street.
Sunday, AM, May 26: Preached in a meadow. Chased out of the meadow as a bull was turned loose during service.
Sunday, AM, June 2: Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway.
Sunday, PM, June 2: Afternoon, preached in a pasture. 10,000 people came out to hear me.
Consider the situation Mary entered upon hearing Gabriel’s announcement:
A young unmarried girl who became pregnant risked disaster. Unless the child’s father agreed to marry her, she would probably remain unmarried for life. If her father rejected her, she could be forced into begging to earn a living. She risked losing Joseph, her family, and her reputation. Not to mention, her story about being made pregnant by the Holy Spirit risked her being considered crazy as well.
Yet, despite the risks, Mary still said, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
When Mary said that, she didn’t know about the tremendous opportunity she would have. She took the risk of faith—she didn’t consult with anyone else or take time to weigh the pros and cons. She only knew that God was asking her to serve Him, and she willingly obeyed.
Believers need Mary’s trust and responsiveness. Too many wait to see the bottom line before offering themselves to God when He desires willing servants. Mary’s faith is deep and mature, and while God may not ask us to do something as remarkable as Mary’s, He will ask us to trust Him in some area of our lives.
What is God speaking to you? What holy nudges are you sensing that you recognize are out of your comfort zone? What areas is God leading and asking you to trust in Him? Scripture says, “My sheep know me; they know my voice” (John 10:27), so what holy risk is God leading you in?
Mary Embraced Waiting
When Mary learned she was pregnant, she had to share something counterintuitive. There was no earthly explanation. She not only navigated misunderstanding, but we can be confident that there was criticism, too. However, she willingly entered a phase of waiting.
We often hear the word waiting through our earthly lens of understanding, such as waiting for a doctor’s report or waiting for repairs on our vehicle. While those certainly have their appropriate context, we see a different quality to waiting when we study Scripture. Waiting as a Christian is not passive; it involves leaning into God in prayer and His revelation. For the believer, waiting develops a dependence in the Lord during a season when things aren’t clarified.
Look at what the prophet Isaiah wrote about waiting:
“…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
It doesn’t say those who wait for the Lord will get irritated. No, it says they will experience renewal. For a Christian to wait is different because we lean into Jesus, and our strength will be renewed. This is God’s promise, not ours.
Isaiah continues in that verse to say, “They shall mount up with wings like eagles.” Did you know eagles can see a mouse up to three miles away? As a believer imagine having a vision where you recognize that God is on the move and the call to be faithful to His word. You may not have your prayers answered yet, nor have you received God’s full resolution to a circumstance, but you can be in a place to step out in faith despite being at a wall.
Lamentations 3:25 says, “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.” This is reinforced in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
We’re called to surrender our plans and timelines to God. Through faith, we’re called to believe that His plans are good and that He works all things together for our benefit, even when we can’t see the immediate results. To actively wait on God means we’re to fill our minds with the truth about God’s character, especially concerning our situation.
In Colossians, Paul says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2). If God acted immediately every time we cried to Him, we would be in control, not Him. We would call the shots, but we don’t possess His wisdom. Having to wait causes us to learn to trust Him and His timing.
Out of these patterns of Mary’s life, may we be sensitive to God’s holy nudges and leading in our lives. May we pray that Gould will make our hearts and lives sensitive and follow Mary’s example, where we can confidently say, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
TL;DR:
Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel exemplifies profound faith and trust in God.
Despite risks and uncertainty, she embraced her divine calling and waited on God’s timing, modeling a faith that encourages us to follow God’s will without hesitation.