The Lord is With You {Week 2}
A Study of Luke 1 & 2
The Lord is with You, and He is the Giver
Welcome to week two of our Christmas study! Last week, we got to see Zacharias and Elizabeth’s reactions to the announcement from God’s angel that they would be having a son named John. Zacharias is still suffering the muteness given him because of his unbelief but it has been six months now, so Elizabeth’s growing belly is certainly beginning to change his fearful and unbelieving heart.
I can only imagine how excited Elizabeth must feel. By six months, I was able to frequently feel my babies move inside of me. She longed for this experience for a lifetime and now she had her chance to just relish in this pregnancy.
Before we get started, take some time to read Luke 1:26–45 and Matthew 1:18–25. I’ve hyperlinked them if you want to read online!
TRUTH #1: God will faithfully give comforters to us in our trials {Luke 1:26–45 & Matthew 1:18–25}
Elizabeth is now six months into a miraculous pregnancy. She has suffered with infertility for years and years and has been through menopause at this point. She truly believed her childbearing days were over. But, as the lineage of Jesus found in Matthew 1 began with the miraculous pregnancy of an elderly woman (Abraham’s wife, Sarah), so, too, does Elizabeth find herself in this space. Though her pregnancy situation is quite different from Mary’s, Elizabeth’s arduous journey and obvious life miracle have now provided a source of hope and comfort for Mary. When the angel tells Mary that Elizabeth is also pregnant, Mary runs straight to her cousin! And why not? If I were Mary, I would immediately assume that this cousin with a miraculous birth may be the only person to believe me!
God also looked out for Mary by sending the angel to Joseph. In this day and time, Joseph could have come forth with this seemingly illegitimate pregnancy and Mary could have been stoned. For him to be willing to simply put her away secretly was a kind gesture but it would have left Mary in a poor and destitute state. So, God sent His angel to talk to Joseph as well. Goodness what a comfort this angel would have provided to Joseph in knowing the right path.
The Lord is faithful to provide comforters to us, too. Sometimes, as in Mary’s case, this is someone who has been through a trial similar to ours, as is discussed in 2 Corinthians 1:3–7 which tells us that God is the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our afflictions so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort which we are comforted by God.” I’ve seen this in my own life. Have you? Trials I have faced have always come with mentors, friends, or even strangers who have stepped in to provide comfort because they have “been there.” And, inevitably, I have later been called on to pass this comfort along to others who need it. Going through a trial often opens our eyes and hearts to see others in similar trials.
The Holy Spirit is also known as our comforter (John 14:26). At this time, the thought of the Lord being WITH His people (v. 28–29) was fairly new. While certain people had been given the Holy Spirit for specific spaces and times (example: Moses), the Holy Spirit was not given to the church yet (see the book of Acts for when this happened!). For the Holy Spirit to come upon Mary (Luke 1:35), John (Luke 1:15), and Elizabeth (Luke 1:41) was miraculous and brought that comfort to each of them that we as believers in the church age have access to daily.
Before you go…
Who has provided comfort to you in your trials? What trials did they endure to get to that space?
Who are you a comforter to? What comfort in hardships has the Lord given to you and how can you use those to bring His comfort to others? Pray He opens your eyes to others needing this comfort.
Going through a trial often opens our eyes and hearts to see others in similar trials.
TRUTH #2: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord” {Luke 1:26–45}
When Mary first saw the angel, Luke tells us she was “very perplexed.” Other translations say “greatly troubled,” “confused,” “disturbed,” “thoroughly shaken,” you get the picture! Similar to the previous story of Zacharias, Mary was quite troubled when visited by an angel from God. But, instead of suffering the consequences of disbelief like Zacharias, Mary chose to believe. This message from God certainly was not an easy one to swallow. A pregnancy outside of marriage was highly looked down upon both socially and religiously. Every plan and hope Mary had for her life was crashing down around her.
And yet, Mary believed God.
Others may or may not have believed her story, but Mary knew she was a virgin. Mary knew this was physically impossible. Mary knew this was financially troublesome. Mary knew this was socially devastating. Mary knew this would bring shame upon herself, her betrothed husband, his family, and her family. And yet, Mary believed God.
As Abraham, whose belief was counted as righteousness, as David, whose belief made him a man after God’s own heart, as Elizabeth, who believed that her infertility and late in life pregnancy were gifts from God, so too Mary was blessed.
Before you go…
And so, it’s time for a heart check. We, too, are called to believe what God has said. While He doesn’t often send an angel with His word these days, He doesn’t have to, for we have the Bible. Do you believe it? Not just the gospel story but also the hard parts? Like the parts that tell us not to gossip or to speak kind words? What about the parts that tell us to keep our minds and bodies pure or the parts that say not to allow ourselves to remain angry and become bitter at others? Oh, the hard parts! We will be blessed if we believe, and true belief will always lead to obedience.
And yet, Mary believed God… true belief will always lead to obedience.
TRUTH #3: A right heart before God includes a heart open to receive the life He has given to us {Luke 1:26–45 & Matthew 1:18–25}
Mary said, “may it be to me.”
Joseph took Mary as his wife, kept her pure until baby Jesus was born, and fathered this Child as his own.
Elizabeth accepted a lifetime of infertility, joyfully bore a baby in her elderly years, and opened her home to a young, hurting girl with an unplanned pregnancy.
Zacharias was left unable to speak for nine long months because of his unbelief.
Jesus became human, lived among us, and died for those who killed him.
If one thing is certain about this life, it is uncertainty. Life rarely turns out the way we thought, hoped, or wanted. Sickness, death, pain, loss, conflict, and hurt will forever step into our lives and show us the brokenness of sin on our world.
Uncertainty often comes accompanied with trials, trials we would never have chosen for ourselves. Some trials in my life have been there to mature me or give endurance (James 1:2–5), some have come to humble me (2 Corinthians 12:7), some have come as discipline or correction (Proverbs 3:11–13), some have come to increase my dependence on God (2 Corinthians 12:9–10), some have come to make me more like Jesus (Romans 8:28–29), some to glorify God (John 9), and some I may never know the why.
Like Elizabeth, I struggled with infertility. This immense life struggle has made every moment with my children that much more precious. Even as I write this, I keep getting distracted by my precious and miraculous two year old as she plays, for I will never forget the days and years that we waited. Infertility is not what I wanted. Infertility is not what I would have chosen. Miscarriage would never have been what I desired. And yet, this is what I was given.
Elizabeth had a choice. When I struggled with infertility, one of the hardest things for me was to sit alongside an unplanned pregnancy. Why, God? Why does this woman get a baby she wasn’t even planning for while I sit here begging you for a baby? Instead of becoming prideful of the baby she was miraculously given in her old age, Elizabeth was so humbled and excited to find that Mary would choose her as a confidant and friend (Luke 1:43). Elizabeth embraced Mary in her confusion and pain and gave her a safe space to verbalize the word of Magnificat that God had given to her to speak. Elizabeth utilized her own miracle to point Mary to the One in her. Elizabeth accepted her infertility and late in life pregnancy with open hands.
Mary had dreams. Mary had goals and desires and I can almost with certainty tell you that they did not include being pregnant outside marriage and running for her life in the first years of her marriage. Having given birth twice, I can guarantee you that Mary would not have chosen to birth in a likely over-crowded barn without the comfort of the midwives she would have known back at home or any family except this new husband she had yet to be intimate with. I am also quite sure that Mary would never have chosen to be a widow or to watch her very own Son die a most gruesome death. And yet, Mary accepted the life she was given with open hands.
Leaving our hearts open to receive what God has given to us spills into many areas of our lives. When I fought against God in my infertility, jealousy emerged towards every pregnant woman or new mom I encountered. When I bow up against those who have spoken unfairly to me, bitterness creeps in and grows. When I resent God for sickness brought close to my life, anger arises. When I resist God’s choice for our financial situation, envy shows up. And the list goes on and on. So many sins are tied to my unwillingness to accept with open hands what God has given to me in this life.
I want to come back to this concept in a later devotional, so for now, I encourage you to ponder this concept and your heart as you receive what God has given to you.
Before you go…
How about you? What has the Lord given you? What is your posture towards these things? Are the hands of your heart open to receive from God both what you desire and what you can only learn to desire by desiring Him? (Psalm 37)
Elizabeth embraced Mary in her confusion and pain and gave her a safe space to verbalize the word of Magnificat that God had given to her to speak
