“The Faith of a Young Lady” by Chad Young
“But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’” (Luke 1:29-33)
One of the reasons I love the gospel of Luke is that it gives so much background surrounding the birth of Jesus. Put yourself in Mary’s shoes for a moment. You’re a young lady, set to be married to a young guy named Joseph. You’re minding your own business one day, probably daydreaming about your wedding, when an angel of the Lord appears to you. At this point, you didn’t even know for sure that angels existed, but this angel tells you that God will place a child inside of you, a virgin. For me personally, I think I would either pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming or start laughing and tell the so-called “angel” to leave me alone and stop playing a prank on me. I don’t think for a second I would have had enough faith to believe what the angel said was true. But listen how Mary immediately responded:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
My prayer today is that the Lord would give me faith like Mary. With strong faith like hers, my struggles with sin, and pride would fade away. My love for Christ the King would grow more intimate. The will of God would seem more important than my own selfish ambition.
My prayer to Jesus: “Lord, I praise you that you are the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. You are the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. You created all things for your pleasure and purpose, including me. You even died on the cross for me so I could be adopted into the family of God. Yet so often I turn away and try to live life on my own terms, seeking worldly desires instead of the desires of the King. I surrender my life to you today. Make me the person you want me to be, and help me to fall more deeply in love with you. I ask you to give me faith like Mary had on the day she found out she would give birth to you. Increase my faith so that I may help to make you famous on earth. Amen.”
About the Author:
Chad Young is the author of Authenticity: Real Faith in a Phony, Superficial World, available at Amazon. As Campus Crusade for Christ’s director for the South Carolina Lowcountry with a scope of 25 college campuses and 70,000 students, Chad resides in Charleston, SC, with his wife Elizabeth and their four young children: Wyatt, Clark, Evelyn and Josilynn. He holds an undergraduate degree from Clemson University and a graduate degree from Georgia Tech; Chad worked in the paper industry for 6 years before going into full-time ministry. He has served on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ for 9 years and has also written a discipleship training manual. He has a passion for helping students learn what it means to have an authentic relationship with Christ.
