Thoughts During Advent: Do Not Be Afraid

Can you imagine it? You’re going about your day, and an angel appears and starts speaking to you!

“Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you,” he announces.

The Bible says that Mary was “greatly troubled at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.” I wish I could’ve seen her face. Don’t you? I feel like the description of her initial reaction here is incomplete. Surely it could’ve included something along the lines of “A startled scream escaped her lips; her eyes grew wider than they ever had before; and the water jug she had been carrying immediately hit the ground and shattered.”

We do know that the angel’s next words to her are, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” She was probably freaking out, so he reassures her of God’s favor toward her, that He is with her. And he calls her by name, which must have been comforting. He then proceeds to tell her that she is going to become pregnant and that her child will be the Son of God.

“How?” is her only question recorded here.

“Nothing will be impossible with God,” the angel tells her.

And she submits herself to the Lord.

She is probably full of questions and confusion, yet she submits – offers – her entire self to God, without demanding all the answers, details, or full understanding of the plan.

This is faith, my friends. A beautiful, sincere, and very real picture of what it means to give ourselves fully to the One who created us and asks us to trust Him with our lives. I am deeply convicted when I read Mary’s response to the angel’s tidings: “Be it done to me according to your word.” How often does God ask things of me, and my response includes excuses, doubts, or flat-out ignoring? I become arrogant and declare, “I know better, and I should be in control.” I become selfish and challenge, “But what about my plans?” Or I become scared and ask, “What if…?”

Yet look at Mary’s example and how wondrously rewarded her faith was! Her life was not perfect; her heart was not without sin; her journey was not without pain and sorrow, but she willingly submitted everything to the Lord, to bring about His glory, not her own.

Imagine a life lived in full submission to God’s plans. Imagine not being restrained by fear. Imagine responding with, “Be it done to me according to your word” every time the Lord speaks. Imagine how beautiful that story – that life – would be. Now imagine what might be missed by refusing to submit to the Savior.

The Lord is with you.

Do not be afraid.

Imagine it.