It’s really difficult to surrender in the silence. We battle with our intrusive thoughts about ourselves, others and God. We fight for control because everything seems out of control. Maybe right now you are experiencing this. You feel like your situation is impossible and there is no way out. You are afraid to surrender everything and everyone to God, because, honestly, you are afraid what he will do. Sometimes, watching another believer walk through a similar situation, can help bolster our faith and give us permission to relinquish control.

Remember: Luke 1:36-38

And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. - Luke 1:36-38

Mary surrendered her questions and curiosity to the God of the impossible. Her simple confession: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” settled her heart into a place of surrender. Sometimes, verbalizing where are hearts should be paves the path to surrender.

Mary’s heart of surrender reveals the faith birthed in her. The God of the impossible works in miraculous ways, we simply need to trust his heart for us. The angel’s news of Elizabeth’s situation is a sweet gift to Mary. Obviously, they didn’t have social media as a form of communication back then, so she had no idea about Elizabeth’s miraculous conception. She didn’t even know the four hundred years of silence had ended! But God gives her a godly example of surrender to follow and bolster her faith.

Reflect

In your season of waiting, how do you bolster your faith? Again, this is where your church community can come around you. We need to remember God’s past faithfulness and keep replacing the doubts that arise with truth, but we need others to come alongside us and help us do this. We need a people praying for us and interceding for us when words are hard and prayer feels futile. We need to borrow the faith of a friend when our faith feels small. We need to go to church on a Sunday morning, even when we don’t feel like it and just hear the voices around us singing praise to God when we can’t bring ourselves to sing. We watch and learn from other believers as they walk through their own seasons of silence.

I have to wonder if Gabriel was planting this seed of Elizabeth’s situation in young Mary’s tender heart to encourage her to lean into the wisdom of this woman? We need people a little further down the road of suffering to point us in the direction of surrender. We need each other.

Respond

Carry this breath prayer in your heart today:

Breathe In:

Jesus, I am your servant

Breathe Out:

I trust you with the impossible.

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