“I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it be done to me, according to your word.” (Matthew 1:38)

I’m sorry to say that probably would not have been my first response. Whatever you want Lord. I would have thought of my own self first. Why me? There are only 400 people in the whole town of Nazareth. They will all know. Who’s going to believe it? Why me? I’m too young. What will Joseph think? What will he say? What will he do? I can’t do it. I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear you. That would be me. More like Jonah in the belly of a whale, than Mary. Like Jonah though, I’m learning that pretending you can’t hear doesn’t work with God.

Mary just says yes and leaves all the rest up to God. What was it like to carry the promise of God within her? It must have changed her not only physically, but spiritually.

After the angel left, Mary set out to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth hears Mary’s voice, she cries out, “How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!” (Luke 1:43-45)

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her. God said it. Mary believed it. She made room for the promise in her life. It wasn’t convenient. It wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t an easy journey. In the face of impossibility, Mary believed.

Do you know that you also have the promise of God within you? You just have to believe. Faith believes, even when it can’t see. Making room for Jesus in our lives is never easy. It isn’t always comfortable or convenient. The journey isn’t always a clear, clean path. There are many times it seems downright impossible. Like Mary, when we believe, God will never leave us. He doesn’t ask us to make the journey alone. Let us go together and be servants of the Lord.