“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. How often we discover the truth of this in the surprising ways in which God works among us! Blessings frequently arise from unlikely circumstances. Margaret Manning makes that point:
“Elizabeth and Zacharias were both from priestly lines: Zacharias from Abijah, and Elizabeth from Aaron. The gospel alerts the reader that they “were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of God” (Luke 1:5-6). However, Elizabeth’s barrenness would have called her “righteous” status into question. Childless women were a ‘disgrace among men’ in her day. Childlessness was naturally looked upon as a grave misfortune or even as a sign that one was cursed by God. The wife who presented her husband with no such tangible blessings or supporters felt that her aim in life had been missed. So the announcement that Elizabeth would bear a child beyond her child-bearing years was as unlikely as a virgin having a child.
Mary, unlike Elizabeth, was a young girl from a backwater town. No priestly line, nor royal heritage. No one would have noticed her, or thought twice about her. Yet like Elizabeth, a strange blessing was bestowed upon Mary indeed! As one author notes, “Mary, God’s favored one, was blessed with having a child out of wedlock who would later be executed as a criminal. Acceptability, prosperity, and comfort have never been the essence of God’s blessing.”(1) Mary, despite the disgrace and the suffering she would endure declares, “Be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).”
Even though God works through the unexpected at times, there are things we can trust. God will act within his own character. He is good; he is sovereign; he loves us; his grace will be with us through all things. ( CBB 7/8/2014)