“My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth 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 on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 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 seed forever.” Luke 1:46-55
When Mary received the word of the Lord and became pregnant with God’s son, she humbly praised God! She was thankful that God had chosen her, and she rejoiced in God’s salvation. While visiting Elizabeth her cousin, Mary prophetically began to speak about the fact that future generations were going to be blessed with the birth of her son. She remembered the Lord’s faithfulness towards Israel and that He was bringing into fruition what the Lord had spoken to Abraham long ago.
This was the beginning of Mary’s journey in her pregnancy, and God gave her a word to proclaim to herself, to Elizabeth, and to those around her about God’s plan for humanity. Mary’s expectations were focused on God’s purpose and promise.
Mary did not focus on herself and how God’s plan would benefit her. She did not create any ungodly expectations about what that could mean for her finances, her status in life, or her role as Jesus’ mother on the earth. She did not try to figure out what would Jesus have to do to be considered the Savior of the world and her responsibility as His mother. She saw herself as a conduit for God’s purpose coming to earth. The scripture does not tell us that Mary and Joseph had to train or raise Jesus differently from their other children. They just simply believed God and lived life as a faithful Jewish couple, and God took care of preparing Jesus for His awesome task!
It is important for all of us to write down what God has spoken to us and to focus on God’s plan through the promise. The promise that God speaks to us will not only bring about a blessing into our lives, but it will also be a vehicle to bless others. The Lord does not expect us to interject our plan or ingenuity, neither does He want us to get stressed about how it will work out. He only expects our surrender to the process. That shift of mindset can bring about a huge relief from the stress and anxiety of helping God or feeling like we have to make something happen.
When things are not in our control, they can produce anxiety in our lives. Are you stressed about something that you feel you have no control over? Have you heard the Lord about it? If you have a direction from God, write it down, surrender yourself to God’s process, and fight with the word that the Lord has spoken to you until you find rest for your soul. If the Lord has not given you specific direction, continue to ask, seek, and knock. It could be that God desires to reveal Himself to you in a new way. God’s revelation brings clarity and dissolves anxiety. Let’s bind the spirit of anxiety in the name of Jesus and live in a position of praise and thankfulness today.
