Countdown to Christmas – Day 1

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38

It all begins here. A young girl, her age as tender as her heart. Bewilderment laced within her words; confusion the emotion spoken from her lips. And a truth so deep it must have seeped within the marrow of her bones as the angel of the Lord breathed it over her being: God can do anything. His word will never fail.

And for us, God’s children, it too must begin at the very same place. We must first begin this journey with the truth that God can do anything. Anything. Such a truth should make our imagination soar as high as our hope for the Messiah prophesied is the greatest miracle God ever performed.

When we peer into the looking glass of our own life, do we see a Saviour at work fulfilling the promises given to us? Do we begin each day by putting truth in our back pocket as we leave the security of our front door to face the world? Do we believe that the impossible is possible with God at the centre of every battle we face?

Though we may shake our head in bewilderment at the circumstances of our life, struggle with confusion in our soul, or feel fearful by the outcome of our choices, we must allow the Spirit of God to seep into the marrow of our bones so that we may stake our victory flag in the camp of belief: God can indeed do anything.

Father, I choose to stand in the truth that you can do anything in my life. As I open my eyes each day, help me to set aside my fears and confusions so that I may hold tight to your promises. In Jesus name, amen.