This time of the year we can’t help but marvel again at the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was a very special young woman who, through her faith and humility, found favor with God.
Faith and favor with God have nothing to do with externals. But they have everything to do with how we respond to the externals. We don’t know for certain the details of how Mary’s faith was formed, but we do see how her faith in God performed… and found favor with God.
Mary exhibits the kind of faith you and I, as women after God’s own heart, must nurture in ourselves. She shows us how God can use any woman, regardless of age and status, if that woman will love Him, obey Him, and trust in Him.
Many women wrongly think that they’re not anyone special, that they are deficient in areas that the world deems essential, that they need more education, better clothes, a better resume, a better pedigree—the list goes on. But, my dear friend, as Mary’s humble life teaches us, if you love God—if you seek after Him with all your heart and if you obey Him because you love Him—you, like Mary, will enjoy His favor.
Do you want to do extraordinary things for God? Then start by simply loving and obeying Him. Mary’s love for God qualified her to be used by God. She was poor, young, and unknown, but she exhibited a faith that was pleasing in God’s sight, a faith that found favor with God.