Nothing Is Too Hard for God

“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’”  Luke 1:38a

Sometimes the problems that surround God’s call on our lives seem insurmountable, and for us they are. But nothing is too hard for God, and whenever He requires us to do something, He will provide the necessary resources. Even when we don’t fully understand God’s plan, and even though His plan may include hardship and suffering, our part is to say yes to Him and trust Him for the outcome, as Mary did.

A crucial detail concerning Jesus’ birth was the fact that His mother was a virgin. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, a young girl who was espoused to a man named Joseph, the angel came before the expected marriage had taken place. When Gabriel told Mary she would have a son, she responded, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34) Mary wasn’t objecting to God’s plan. She was simply asking how this could happen. The angel gave her this explanation: “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.” (Luke 1:35)

When Joseph, Mary’s intended husband, heard that she was expecting a child, he could have had her stoned since she appeared to be an adulterous woman. But Joseph was a man of mercy. Matthew 1:19, “Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

Mary had responded to Gabriel’s announcement with submission to God’s will no matter what it would cost her. No doubt she dreaded Joseph’s reaction when he would hear the news. But God took care of that. God sent an angel who told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife, because that which was conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit. Joseph did as the angel had instructed, taking Mary as his wife.

Jesus came into the world with Mary as His mother, but the Holy Spirit was His birth father. He was born of the seed of Mary but not of the seed of Joseph. When a baby is born of the seed of man, he inherits man’s characteristics--two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two arms, two legs, etc., and a sin nature. But, since Jesus was born of God rather than man, He was born without a sin nature--the sinless Son of God. Therefore, He could die for the sins of others. He had no sins of His own that required atonement; He could pay the penalty for your sins and my sins, and He did. That’s why he came.
Lord Jesus, thank You for donning the garment of humanity and for dying for my sins. Amen.