Favorite Part

My favorite part:

   "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary.  She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.  Gabriel appeared to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman!  The Lord is with you!'
   Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.  'Don't be afraid, Mary,' the angel told her, 'for you have found favor with God!  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor, David.  And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!'
  Mary asked the angel, 'But how can this happen?  I am a virgin.'
  The angel replied, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.  What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age!  People used to say she was barren, but she's now in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God.'
  Mary responded, 'I am the Lord's servant.  May everything you have said about me come true.'  And then the angel left her."

(Luke 1:26-38)

This part of the story has jumped out at me for a few years in a row now.  Mary's interaction with God, through the angel, has inspired me and challenged me.  Here's what I keep going back to in this passage:

*  Though Mary was "confused and disturbed," she listened with attention and an open heart.  By the end of the angel's message, she committed herself fully to God's plan with confidence and expectant hope.

*  God allays Mary's doubts, questions, and fears by lending an example in God's grace and power through Elizabeth's pregnancy.  He gave Mary the gift of a known relative and friend to go before her and beside her during her pregnancy, that she may not be alone and that she may recognize God's power through Elizabeth's pregnancy.  "FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!"

*  This early in Jesus' story, Mary could never have known the extent to which Jesus's birth would change the world.  She knew He was to be God's Son, but she couldn't have known He would die for us all, so that we could know God now and eternally.  I have to believe, as His mother, Mary experienced the fullness of Jesus' life and death from the womb to the tomb in more intimate a way than any other human being ever has.  I can't help but think of the height of joy and the depth of sorrow she gracefully lived as His mother.