Luke 1:34-38: a reflection

34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?” 35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. 36Behold, Elizabeth your relative also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing spoken by God is impossible.” 38Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

When the angel tells Mary she will bear the Son of God, she is troubled and asks how this can be, since she is a virgin. The angel explains, and assures her: nothing spoken by God is impossible. And then comes Mary's response, one of the great acts of faith in Scripture: Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. She yields to God's will, though it is costly and beyond her understanding, submitting herself to whatever God has said.

Notice Mary's surrender: let it be to me according to your word. She did not fully understand how this could be; she could foresee the cost and the difficulty it would bring her, an unmarried woman with child. But she submitted herself to God's will, yielding to whatever he had said, trusting him even where she could not understand or foresee. Her response was not demand or resistance, but surrender: I am the servant of the Lord; let it be according to your word.

That surrender is a model for our own response to God's will. God's will for us can be costly, difficult, beyond our understanding, hard to foresee; and we can respond with resistance, demand, or fear. But Mary responded with surrender, yielding herself to God's will, trusting him even where she could not understand. When God's will for you is costly or beyond your understanding, do not resist or demand your own way; respond, as Mary responded, with surrender: I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. Yield yourself to God's will, trusting him even where you cannot understand or foresee, as Mary yielded to a calling she could not fully understand. Her surrender, let it be according to your word, is the response of a heart yielded to God; make it your own, submitting to God's will with the trust that says, I am your servant; let it be to me according to your word.

Lord, when the angel told Mary she would bear the Son of God, she asked how it could be, and was assured that nothing spoken by you is impossible; and then she responded with one of the great acts of faith: behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. She yielded to your will, though it was costly and beyond her understanding. Set her surrender before me as a model for my own response to your will. Your will for me can be costly, difficult, beyond my understanding, hard to foresee; and I can respond with resistance, demand, or fear. But Mary responded with surrender, yielding herself to your will, trusting you even where she could not understand. When your will for me is costly or beyond my understanding, keep me from resisting or demanding my own way; help me respond, as Mary responded, with surrender: I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. Help me yield myself to your will, trusting you even where I cannot understand or foresee, as Mary yielded to a calling she could not fully understand. Her surrender is the response of a heart yielded to you; help me make it my own, Lord, submitting to your will with the trust that says, I am your servant; let it be to me according to your word.