Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
LUKE 1:26-33 | In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary gets the angelic word. “You’ll conceive and bear a son!” Further, this boy will be the Messiah, the inheritor of David’s throne, the long awaited rescuer of Israel. Now this plan, God’s plan, was passing strange. World revolutions don’t start in Galilee and they don’t begin with teenage girls. Virgins don’t shop in the maternity store at the local mall.
Our God is a surprising God. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not identical with ours. His purposes and plans extend back in time to the moments before creation and forward beyond the consummation of all things. We are temporal, local, and limited and the scope of our vision is small. He is eternal, within and beyond time, filling all of space, seeing everything and everyone with perfect clarity.
When has God’s plan caught you by surprise?
How did you respond?
