Mary's Encounters (p. 2)

Continuation of "Mary's Encounters" .... page 2

And then another of life's encounters for Mary. This is where I think maybe this wasn't so easy for her.

Matthew tells us in Matthew 1:18 (b) (NKJV): "before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit."

"Usually," said our author in his book, "a truly memorable encounter involves someone else."

Well, THIS encounter DID involve someone else. But, come on, who'd believe that Mary, this very human Mary, was pregnant because of the Holy Spirit? Can't we just imagine the whispers and disapproving glances towards Mary after her friends and family learned she was pregnant? An angel messenger, Mary? Sure, sure. The Holy Spirit, not a flesh-and-blood man, got you pregnant, Mary? Oh, come on. Really! You expect us to believe that?

Mary herself must have had some doubts as to what was real, because she asked the announcing angel, Gabriel, In Luke 1:34 (NKJV): "...How can this be, since I do not know a man?" "Know", as in the sense of having had a sexual encounter with someone. She knew how babies were made, and she knew she hadn't done anything to make a baby. Wouldn't she, too, have been wondering how she was going to explain this to Joseph? (Fortunately for her, God provided Joseph with his own encounters, so he would understand that Mary was being truthful; that the child she carried was, indeed, the Messiah, that she had not been unfaithful to him.)

Yeah, I do often think of the difficulties, humanly speaking, that Mary must have faced, at least for a time, when she found herself pregnant, not married. I can't help thinking that it was a sticky situation that Mary found herself in.

However, her character,her belief in and love for God, her obedience to Him up to that point, was constant and strong. So much so that probably after the initial shock, the this-is-not-happening-to-me feelings she probably had, she was STILL open to God. Open to His messenger and the message that she was truly the one chosen from among the other women to give birth to the Messiah. She could believe and accept because she had BEEN believing and accepting God's will all along.

In Luke 1:38 (NKJV) we read: "Then Mary said, 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to Your word.' "

She believed. She accepted. She didn't try to escape the situation, even knowing, surely, that there would be all that gossip about her.

Another encounter. A memorable encounter. Oh, Mary, THIS one would SO change your life. And the lives of many others.

(continued tomorrow ....)