The Christmas season is a joyful season for many, but for more than a few, it is equally a difficult season. Wherever you find yourself, Mary’s song in Luke 1 (otherwise known as The Magnificat), declares putting your hope and trust in God is not a waste. It is not wishful thinking, or just mere religious fervor.

Mary, a young, teenage, peasant woman from a tiny, obscure city (Nazareth), is rejoicing in the midst of what outsiders would say is a very scandalous situation (premarital pregnancy). To add to her plight, her people had been under the rule of foreign nations for over 7 centuries. No prophet had spoken to Israel, and no revelation from God had occurred in the last 400 years. Yet, Mary is rejoicing. How? She declares in her song that putting your hope and trust in God, despite whatever your circumstances are, is not a waste. Nor is it wishful thinking, or religious fervor. Assurance doesn’t come from being in control, or getting what you want, or even everything making sense. Assurance comes from knowing and experiencing God’s attributes. In her song, she refers to three: 1) Despite being mighty, God often chooses the small, the least, and the weak as agents to bring His salvation to others (vss 48-49), 2) despite being holy, God is merciful to the humble (vss 50 and 54), and 3) despite human’s propensity to being unfaithful, God always remains faithful (vss 54-55). Where do you turn for assurance? 

Throughout Luke’s Gospel, Jesus does the very things God is mentioned doing in Mary’s Song. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, the King whose reign will never end, is the fulfillment of God’s promises. He noticed the small, the rejected, the despised. He showed mercy to the humble. And he was perfectly faithful to the very end, despite being rejected by his own. And best yet, the risen Lord still empowers the Church, through the Holy Spirit, to continue that kingdom work today.

Application Question:

1) Is there an area of your life that you are resisting God’s will out of fear? What would be the first step look like in yielding to his will?