After Mary has been visited by the angel Gabriel she goes to her cousin Elizabeths house. I imagine that Mary would have been frightened. Here she is, a young girl who is not yet married and she now finds herself to be pregnant. But when she arrives at Elizabeths house, Elizabeth greets her with joy and welcomes her in. There is no shame or wondering, just pure joy shared between the two women and together they rejoice.

⁴⁶ And Mary sang this song, My soul is ecstatic, overflowing with praises to God! ⁴⁷ My spirit bursts with joy over my Life-Giving-God! ⁴⁸ For He set His tender gaze upon me, His lowly servant girl. And from here on, everyone will know That I have been favored and blessed! ⁴⁹ The Mighty One has worked a mighty miracle for me; Holy is His name! ⁵⁰ Mercy kisses all His godly lovers, From one generation to the next! ⁵¹ Mighty power flows from Him To scatter all those who walk in pride! ⁵² Powerful princes He tears from their thrones And He lifts up the lowly to take their place! ⁵³ Those who hunger for Him will always be filled,But the smug and self-satisfied, He will send away empty! ⁵⁴ Because He can never forget to show mercy, He has helped His chosen servant, Israel, ⁵⁵ Keeping His promises to Abraham And to his descendants forever!” Luke 1:46-55 TPT

Amidst the crazy set of circumstances that Mary finds herself, she chooses to rejoice. She looks outside of herself and chooses to focus on the Lord and the amazing thing that He is up to.

She could have been moaning and groaning over the fact that it was going to be a difficult thing for her to face, how was she going to tell her soon to be husband, her family and everybody else and I bet that there were so many unanswered questions that she had. But still,  Mary chose to have joy and rejoice.

It made me stop and think, am I choosing to rejoice amidst my difficult circumstances? Am I choosing to focus on what the Lord is doing in and around me rather then on all of the obstacles that lie in my way?

It really challenged me to make sure that my thoughts are always on the fact that God is a good God and He is faithful and always keeps His promises. Even when times seem difficult that fact remans true, He is good and for that I will rejoice.

I need to focus on the silver linings, the small victories and small mercies that I encounter along my way. Otherwise everything becomes too difficult, too overwhelming and too hard and then I may just give up and give in all together.

Mary has taught me to have joy and rejoice. Even if I am unsure of where I am going or what I am doing, I need to grab a hold of God and take Him at His word. His promises are always yes and amen and His word never fails.