The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.”  Luke 1:35-36

The angel reassured Mary that what was about to happen in her was a Holy Spirit thing. God was at work and he was about to do the impossible. And then to prove it, he gave her a sign.

Her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant. Elizabeth, the one who had never been able to have children, was now pregnant. And she was old. This too was a God thing. Miraculous pregnancies were part of the history of Mary’s people. Women past childbearing age and infertile women had born children, but never before had a virgin born a child.

Nothing will be impossible with God. Other translations say, “For no word from God will ever fail.” This literally means that “not any word from God is without power.” Every word, every promise God speaks has power, enough power behind it to bring it to pass. Other scriptures verify this:

When the disciples were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:25-26

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

I Thessalonians 5:24

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Numbers 23:19

I have seen God do some miracles. I know some dear women who despaired of ever having children and now they hold little ones in their arms. But I forget this when I look at the impossible situations in my life that need a God-sized miracle. I need the reassurance God gave to Mary. Today, I will remember that the Holy Spirit is in me and he is at work.

What impossible situation are you trusting God for?

What sign has God given you that his word will not fail?

PRAYER

Precious Lord, I adore you for being a God who does the impossible, whose words do not fail, who has power to fulfill his promises. You are worthy of my worship. Teach me more about you so that I can believe and trust that you will work in my impossible situations.

Next: Last Words

For an edited (and much better written) version of this, please purchase Favored Blessed Pierced: A Fresh Look at Mary of Nazareth, available on Amazon.