What can we learn from Mary's response about trusting God's plans for us? Context of Luke 1:34 “Mary asked the angel, ‘How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?’ ” Mary has just been told she will conceive the Messiah. Her response is not unbelief but an honest, earnest question flowing from purity and logic. Mary’s Honest Question and Steadfast Trust • Her words show transparency—she voices the obvious impossibility. • She does not reject the message; she seeks understanding within God’s revelation. • Immediately afterward she yields: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Key Lessons for Our Trust • Faith welcomes questions that aim to understand, not to escape obedience. – Compare Gideon’s clarifying signs (Judges 6:17) versus Zechariah’s doubting (Luke 1:18–20). • God’s plans often transcend natural explanation. – “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) – “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) • Yielding follows understanding—but sometimes understanding comes later. – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) • Humility positions us to receive divine assignments. – “Though the LORD is exalted, He regards the lowly.” (Psalm 138:6) • Obedience may invite misunderstanding from others, yet God vindicates. – Joseph initially planned to dismiss her quietly (Matthew 1:19), yet God intervened. Practical Steps to Embrace God’s Plans 1. Bring honest questions to God’s Word and wait for His answer. 2. Rehearse His power: read accounts of impossibilities made possible (Daniel 3; John 11). 3. Confess, “I am the Lord’s servant,” daily—surrender precedes clarity. 4. Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), trusting that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). 5. Celebrate fulfilled promises to strengthen future trust (Luke 1:46–55). Summary Mary shows that trusting God’s plan does not forbid sincere questions; it anchors those questions in humble submission, confident that the God of the impossible will accomplish exactly what He has declared. |
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