Today’s Hope

Today’s Hope
Written by Guest Writer, Joy Mathis Chadwick

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” Luke 1:26-30 KJV

Can you just imagine the grand commotion going on in Heaven the day that God announced to the angels that IT WAS TIME!! It was time for Gabriel to make a trip to Nazareth to tell Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus! This choice wasn’t made on the spur of the moment by any means; God knew from before the beginning of time how all this would come about. He knew that there would come a day that He would send His Son to earth. No detail would be left to chance.

I can’t begin to imagine the excitement of the angels in Heaven when this announcement was made. I wonder if the angels knew all along that this day would come. I wonder if the angels high-fived each other and gathered to rejoice that the day was finally here. I wonder how the conversation between God and Gabriel played out as He gave him the details of his assignment. I can only speculate about how big the grin must have been on Gabriel’s face as he prepared to go and tell Mary. This was big news! This was life changing news!!

Yet Mary was just a nobody. She was young and poor; she was a commoner. Although she and Joseph were engaged, Mary’s pregnancy could have resulted in her being stoned to death. A baby conceived out of wedlock was not taken lightly. Joseph had every right to call off the engagement; after all, Gabriel came to Mary, not to Joseph. I wonder if he ever doubted Mary’s news. I wonder if he considered his options. I wonder if Joseph knew that it was not by chance that he and Mary were together in the first place.

No doubt that in spite of her youth, Mary was keenly aware of the possibilities, yet she chose to focus on the message instead of the mess. After all, this angel had told her not to be afraid. This angel had also told her that she had found favor with God.

So in the spirit of this ancient Christmas message, I think God would probably want us to know the same thing today. Fear not. Fear not about our finances. Fear not about the politics. Fear not about Covid. Fear not about all the uncertainties. God’s got this! The most important thing that I think we should take away from the passage of scripture about Gabriel visiting Mary was when he told her that she had found favor with God.

In this most blessed time of the year and in the days and weeks and months to come, may we also focus on the message instead of the mess. May we all re-examine ourselves and strive to find favor with God.