Advent Devotion for December 7th, the 11th day of Advent

Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, into my life and into the life of Your world.
 

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:34-37

 “How will this be”, Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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 barren is in her sixth month for nothing is impossible with God.”

 

Devotional: As human beings we tend to want to know how something is to happen. We are the products, to some degree or another, of a cause and effect world view. The angel patiently refuses to respond to her question except to say that her pregnancy and the birth of this child comes from God. The angel does give some comfort to Mary in her bewilderment by saying that her relative Elizabeth, who was thought to be barren, is now six months pregnant. Then the profound words the Lord spoke to Abraham and Sarah are spoken to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

Of course this means that the God who created and nurtures all things is in no way restricted to the realities of the human condition or any limitations of time or space, and will not be limited by anything. God created and rules. This, of course, means that God is not limited by the human questions of “why?” or “how?”.

The fundamental reality that God, and only God, is not bound by that which we may regard as “impossible” is the core aspect of prayer. If God were limited by the possible or even the probable, prayer would be futile; trust in God would be futile; and faith in God's love for us in Jesus Christ would be foolishness at best. 

This means that our part in prayer is not to project upon God any limitations; for there is simply no way that love can be limited, and God is love. One limitation that we tend to attribute to God is predictability. Certainly Mary did not experience God in an anticipated or expected way.

This Advent Season come to God as a child who trusts in the limitless, unconditional love of the God who gave us Jesus; had Him bear our sins on the cross; raised Him from the dead; drew Him to God's throne; and promises to send Him back to us to judge the quick and the dead.

“For nothing is impossible with God.”

Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus.