Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 128
INTRO
Have you ever thought about what it would be like for an angel to show up with a message for you? Join Cindi Whitman today as she talks about what it might have been like for Mary.
TRANSCRIPT
It was a dark day. Outside it was overcast and the spiritual climate was dark. The people of God had not heard a word from the Lord in 400 years. Did I say 400 years? Not 40 years, but 400? That’s right. The time between the last writings of the Old Testament and the appearance of Christ is known as the “intertestamental” period of time. Others call it the 400 years of silence.
This is Cindi Whitman with Restoring the Foundations. We are in the middle of the holiday season. We have been focusing on topics related to Christmas and the holidays. Join me today as we take a look at what happened to Mary.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, you could say it was kind of out of the blue. Mary had been taught throughout her lifetime that the Messiah would come. It was well known that this would happen, but nothing had happened in her lifetime or in her parents’ or grandparents’ lifetimes. All of a sudden, an angel appears to her and tells her that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah. How was she to believe that she, a young average girl from an average family, was going to be the mother of the Messiah? That had to be a shocking experience. I would imagine that Mary had lots of questions, doubts and fears.
Mary was a young girl in love with an older man named Joseph. They were planning their future together and they were betrothed. This was like an engagement but more serious. It was a declaration of the intent to marry one another and commit to one another for a lifetime. In that day it was much more significant our engagements today.
Mary is minding her own business and all of a sudden, she has a visitation by an angel. I don’t know about you, but I’d take note if an angel showed up before me. The angel’s message was nothing but life altering, earth shattering, how could this happen to a young virgin girl? I’d think she’d be asking who me? Why me? How?
So, let’s stop and think about that moment. A word from God has not been spoken for 400 years and now an angel of the Lord shows up and tells you that you, a young girl from Nazareth, that you are going to have a baby. You know that you’re a virgin. You know that you haven’t been sleeping around with Joseph or any other man so how in the world is that going to happen??
Let’s take a look at the text from Luke.
26 During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. 28 The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord has blessed you and is with you.”29 But Mary was very startled by what the angel said and wondered what this greeting might mean.30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has shown you his grace. 31 Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. 33 He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I am a virgin?”35 The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. For this reason, the baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. 36 Now Elizabeth, your relative, is also pregnant with a son though she is very old. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. 37 God can do anything!”38 Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” Then the angel went away.
So, Mary is having an average day when the angel shows up. She’s going to have a baby. How is that possible? Mary might have been young and naive but even she knew that it took a man and a woman to conceive a child. The culture of the day also frowned on the conception of a child out of wedlock much more than it does today. In some cultures, today it is still frowned upon but not nearly as much as it once was. Mary knew the penalty of sex outside of marriage was potentially death by being stoned. She knew that Joseph would potentially not marry her, and her life was about to be turned upside down. How would she explain this to Joseph? How would she explain it to her parents? Her friends who were helping her plan this great wedding celebration would be shocked. Her family would be shamed. The family name would be forever marred.
Although I am quite sure that Mary didn’t really have the full understanding of what she was being asked to do and the ramifications of it she said yes. Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” Then the angel went away.
So, she says, yes and the angel disappears. Now what? I can’t even imagine how she felt. What does she do? Who does she tell? Is she losing her mind? How will she tell Joseph and her parents? What will people say? How will she ever convince them of what the angel said?
Have you ever been in a situation where the Lord told you something or asked you something and you said yes but you weren’t quite sure what to do afterwards? Maybe you knew in your mind and heart that others weren’t going to understand or even believe you that God had spoken it, but there was no turning back? Maybe you were so excited about the opportunity that you said yes but didn’t really stop to think about all of the consequences? I could say a resounding yes to this question. But there’s no turning back. You don’t want to be disobedient to the Lord, so you press on no matter what the circumstances and outcomes.
Mary did just that. I can only imagine that she had times of uncertainty and wondering if she’d dreamed the whole thing up. She remembered that the angel had said that her relative Elizabeth was also pregnant. Now it was well known that Elizabeth was most likely too old to get pregnant. Mary decided to go visit Elizabeth. God graciously gave Mary the confirmation she needed.
In our lives confirmation is valuable. When we hear from the Lord directly or through a prophetic word it is always great to get confirmation. A couple of years ago someone gave us a prophetic word that the Lord had a new house for us. So, in an act of what I thought was faithful obedience I boxed up a bunch of stuff that we don’t use on a daily basis. We moved that stuff into storage. We thought that the prophetic word was a NOW word. Well, let’s just say that we are in the same house as we were then, and we recently closed our storage unit and brought all that stuff back. I don’t know if the prophetic word was wrong or if we just got the timing wrong. I’m going to hold on to the latter…the house is still coming. I just misread the timing. So often when we get a prophetic word it feels like our timing is just not God’s, right? In Mary’s case she was going to immediately begin to see the fruition of the word of the Lord! However, what if it didn’t happen right away? With Abraham and Sarah, the manifestation of the word about being the father of many nations took many years to come to fruition. In the meantime, Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands and possibly created a problem that shouldn’t have happened. I am thankful that we didn’t put our house on the market before! We could’ve had a lot more challenges!
So, in this season as you’re thinking about Christmas and the New Year be tuned into what God is saying. Maybe you’ll have an angelic visitation like Mary did. Are you ready to believe what God says about you and 2025 and beyond? Grab ahold of the word and then ask for confirmation and wait. Ask God about next steps but don’t assume that the timing is now. For Mary, she knew it would either happen or it wouldn’t. She was willing and cooperated with the Holy Spirit. She positioned herself to receive all that God had for her, but she didn’t try to make it happen! Because of her yes, she experienced a miracle! Her life was forever changed and so was ours.
Join me in this prayer:
Father God, thank you that you still speak today. Just like Mary I want to position myself to receive from you. Thank you for sending Jesus to a naive young woman named Mary. Thank you for giving Him to die on the cross for me. I open my heart today to receive directly from you or through a prophetic word. I will cooperate with the word and wait patiently for confirmations and the manifestation of the word. I believe that my best days are yet ahead. Like Mary I believe that you are speaking fresh life and hope into me today and that you still do the impossible. I am here Lord. I am willing.
Amen!
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