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Listen to the words of a petrified teenage girl. She has an amazing encounter with a member of the heavenly host that completely changes the course of her life ... forever! Mary, Joseph's betrothed, learns that the promise the angel gives to her -- With God, all things are possible -- will sustain her not only through the birth, but also throughout the life of her son, who is the Savior of the world.

Mary: Joseph's Betrothed

A Promised Word
Luke 1:26-38

I was doing housework and daydreaming about being married to Joseph, the man my parents had arranged for me to marry. I wondered what was in store for my future with Joseph. He seemed like a nice enough man; gentle, honorable, and hard-working. I thought he would make a good husband, but I just could not picture what it would be like to be married at such a young age. So, in the midst of an unknown future, I spent a great deal of time daydreaming and praying.

Then right in the middle of my prayer, while sweeping the floor, I heard someone talking. I turned around to see who was at the door, but no one was there. Then I heard it again, a soft, gentle voice saying, "Hail." I looked up and could not believe my eyes. I thought I was seeing things. It looked like an angel but, I knew it couldn't be. I had not been sleeping well, so I assumed that because I was overtired my mind was playing tricks on me. I shook it off and went back to my chores. Then I heard it again. "Hail, O favored one! The Lord is with you."

Now that certainly sounded like the greeting of an angel, but I did not think an angel would be speaking to me that way. Why would I be favored? I was only a poor teenager. I think of God's favored ones as the rabbis or the Pharisees. Certainly, God doesn't favor poor, lowly girls. Then I heard it again. "Hail, O favored one! The Lord is with you."

I said, "Who me?"

"Yes, you are favored. The Lord is with you."

I was terrified. Absolutely terrified. I was shaking with fear. I felt confused and wondered why the angel was talking to me and what the greeting could possibly mean.

I am sure you know that feeling of terror. I think that each of you can remember a time when you have felt afraid, confused, or perplexed. Maybe it was when the doctor said the word, "cancer." Or it might have been when you saw your loved one die. It could have been when your partner said, "I just don't love you anymore." For some it might have been facing an unknown future. You know what I am talking about when I say that I was absolutely terrified, don't you?

Well, the angel sensed my fear and said very gently, "Do not be afraid, Mary." It was then that I realized that the angel was a messenger of the Lord. Those were words God spoke frequently to God's people. God spoke them to Abraham when Abraham feared he would have no offspring. Moses heard those words when he feared the daunting task of facing Pharaoh. God shared the words, "Do not fear or be dismayed," with Joshua before sending him into battle. An angel of the Lord calmed Gideon when he feared for his life. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets needed a great deal of reassurance and God frequently encouraged them by saying, "Fear not, for I am with you." That is how I knew that Gabriel was a messenger of the Lord. "Do not fear," are God's words of promise for God's people. They hold the promise that God always goes with us. With God's presence we have nothing to fear.

Gabriel's assuring words calmed me. But then he went on with words that confused me. Gabriel said, "You have found favor with God," which made me wonder. Why should I, a poor teenager, find favor with God? Why not a priest? Why not a prophet? My faith seemed pretty ordinary to me, but it certainly was not noteworthy enough that it would warrant God's favor. That much I knew.

As I was trying to figure out what in the world Gabriel could have meant, he went on to say, "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus." My eyes must have been as big as saucers. I could not believe what I was hearing. How could I bear a son? The impossible announcement was more than I could comprehend, but the angel quickly went on saying, "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

I thought I was confused before, but after that announcement my head was swirling. As a teenager my emotions were already beyond control. I felt panicked. What would my friends think? How would I deal with my parents? Would Joseph dump me or maybe even have me stoned to death? How could I be the mother of the Son of the Most High? I could not make sense of any of it. So I just point blankly asked Gabriel, "What do you mean? How could this be? I am not even married."

Gabriel went on to explain that it would all be done by the power of the Most High. Let me tell you, I was a bit skeptical about that until the angel told me about my elderly relative, Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant. Elizabeth had so wanted children and had never been able to have them. Elizabeth and her husband were old, way too old to have children, yet she was pregnant.

Thinking that Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age made me believe the angel's words of promise, "For with God nothing will be impossible." Clinging to the promise that nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible with God gave me the courage to respond by saying, "Here am I, servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

I trusted that God would be with me regardless of what happened. I believed that God was with me so I had nothing to fear. I knew that with God's strength I could face any challenge. I knew that God's power could change me and change the world forever through the birth of Jesus.

You know the rest of my story. You have been hearing it all of your lives. I ran as fast as I could to see Elizabeth, because I knew she would believe me. I knew she would believe all that Gabriel had told me. I know she would trust in God's promised Word.

Nine months later, while Joseph and I were in Bethlehem for the census, it came time for me to give birth. I was frightened. There was no room for us in the inn. There was no one to help us. Our parents were not there. There was not even a midwife. As the contractions got closer, I wondered if Joseph would know what to do. It felt like my world was spinning out of control. Joseph left me to find a place to stay. It felt like he was gone for hours. Upon his return he told me that the only place he could find was a stable. There was no time to complain, the baby was coming. I was terrified, but I clung to God's promise of old, "Fear not for I am with you." Once again those words of promise calmed my fears and gave me comfort.

God's promised Word brought Joseph and I through the ordeal of childbirth.

As I held Jesus in my arms for the first time and looked in his eyes I thought, "With God nothing is impossible." Giving birth in a stable without a midwife was the first of many challenges throughout my life. At times, I felt anything but blessed. There were times when I watched my son go through the ups and downs of childhood, the challenges of ministry and finally his being mocked, spit upon, ridiculed, and finally crucified. My soul was pierced as I watched the son, to whom I'd given birth, die on a cross.

However, through all the ups and downs I trusted God and I always came back to the promises that God spoke to me as a teenage girl. I trusted that there was nothing to fear because I was not alone. I believed that God's plan for salvation was revealed through my son, Jesus, and his kingdom would have no end. I trusted the promise: with God nothing is impossible.

Those promises that Gabriel spoke to me so long ago are promises for you today. You know as well as I do that God did not promise any of us a life of ease. As blessed children of God we are not exempt from hardship. Disease still drains the life out of loved ones. Loneliness robs people of joy. Death rips hearts with grief. Personal crises strip away emotional fortitude. Physical pain invades life's comfort.

Yet, you can cling to the promises that helped me through my life. There is nothing to fear because God is with you. That is why God sent my son, Jesus, into the world. In a dream, my husband was told to name our son "Emmanuel" which means "God-with-us." God is for you. God loves you. God is with you. That is the promise that can wash away any fear.

But that is not all. My son was the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. That was the promise that the angels spoke to the shepherds the night I gave birth. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord." There is nothing that can separate you from God's love known through Jesus. Sin can't. Actions can't. Words can't. Thoughts can't. Not even death can separate you from the love of God, because with God nothing is impossible.

That is what will get you through anything in life. You have nothing to fear because Jesus, your Savior, whose kingdom will have no end, will be with you always. You can get through any hardship that life brings because with God all things are possible. Those words of promise worked for me and they will work for you as well. Have no fear, because God is with you and with God nothing is impossible.