Have you got three minutes? Let me share this note I recently wrote in the margin of my Bible. (You do know that it is both permissible and advisable to write insights in your Bible’s margins and also use a highlighter pen to emphasize the Holy Spirit “uh huhs”, don’t you?) Alongside the passage found in Luke 1:26-38, I wrote “Mary’s Brain Tilters” and these eight things that sent Mary’s brain into spasms.
1. The appearance of an angel. (verse 28)
2. A “Say what?” salutation. (verse 29)
3. Is the “thy womb” my womb? (verse 31)
4. This child will be called the Son of the Highest. (verse 32)
5. The child will be a throne sitter. (verse 32)
6. The child will have a kingdom. (verse 33)
7. Maybe Gabriel is missing the obvious. (verse 34)
8. The words “Holy Ghost” and “overshadow” weren’t in “the talk” given by her mother. (verse 35)
Can you even begin to comprehend what must have been happening inside Mary’s mind? Surely, each of these points would have caused her brain’s tilt, tilt, tilt mechanism to kick in.
Did Mary have questions? Yes. Was Gabriel’s announcement beyond anything that she would have ever imagined? Most definitely. Yet, in the midst of questions galore, Mary allowed the word of the Lord to have preeminence over the whats and hows. We see this in her response.
“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:38
Here is the reason for this post. I am quite certain that we have all experienced plenty of brain tilters. For example, you may have received x-rays and MRI reports from trained, reputable physicians that clearly show a serious medical situation and yet, the word of the Lord came to you and placed your healing in the past tense as you read “…Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17) and “…by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The tilt, tilt, tilts with the whats and hows couldn’t be far behind!
In preparing to share this post, I had such a knowing that someone needed to be reminded of the utmost importance of echoing Mary’s response. Know that it’s not just any old word from any old person that we are embracing – it’s a word directly from the One who cannot lie. (Numbers 23:19) In the midst of your tilts and more tilts, remember that God is INCREDIBLY good at fulfilling His promises. To quote from F.F. Bosworth’s Christ the Healer “The only purpose of God’s promises is their fulfillment”. Find in the Word what God has to say about your situation and then take an unwavering, unrelenting stand upon that unchangeable, sure Word of the Lord and declare “Be it unto me according to thy word”. That word WILL come to pass!
Only two more words need to be added. Amen? Amen!
