Do Not Be Afraid!??

"But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:30-33

I read these verses this morning and all I could think was, how could she not be afraid!? Here there is an angel in front of her telling her that she is going to be pregnant. She is unmarried and a virgin, and yet she is going to become pregnant and carry a child. There are so many reasons to be afraid here. First there are the social ramifications. Mary does have a fiancee in Joseph, but it would cause great scandal for her to be pregnant before their wedding. In the culture at the time, Joseph would be able to call of the wedding completely. Life could be rough for Mary, she could become an outcast, unwelcome in her family or anywhere else-and that's if they let her live! And she wasn't supposed to be afraid?

Then there's the mere fact that she's about to become pregnant with a child. A child! She is going to have a baby and be responsible for that little life. That's enough to scare anyone who is not prepared for it. I know every once in a while I'll wonder what it would be like to have another child, and I'll literally begin sweating and breathing funny- the thought of another baby scares me to death! As added pressure, she is not raising just any child, she is raising the Son of God.

I'd say Mary had every reason to be afraid, don't you think? Fortunately for Mary, the angel went on with what he was saying, and in my mind, he says the one thing that would calm her and ease her fears. He says that she has found favor with God. Wow. To me that does say that all will be well and that Almighty God will be looking out for Mary and this baby and that everything will work out for the best.

Imagine the fears that would be eased if we knew we had found favor with God. How about trying to think a little more like Mary. What if we spent more time accepting what God says to us through His Word. I think part of that is accepting that she was a normal person. She was just like me, going about her business doing her work for the day when the angel appeared to her and told her what would happen. And she accepted it as he said it. I pray that as I go through this Christmas season that I can remember that, and try to be a little more like Mary.