MARY, MIRACLES AND A COUSIN

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."

"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."  (Lk. 1:30-37).

"I'm pregnant."  These words bring worry and distress to the ears of parents when spoken by 
their teenage daughter, especially when she's not married.  Mary must have wondered how she 
would break the news to her parents, friends, and, especially, her fiancé Joseph.  "God did it!" 
would not be well received and might possibly bring charges of blasphemy.  Alienation would 
have been the common practice in first century Galilee, accompanied by a lifetime of tainted 
reputation with frequent whispers and giggles.

Knowing the stress Mary would be under, Gabriel provides for Mary a sympathetic ear—her 
cousin Elizabeth.  While there were likely years of difference between their ages (Mary was 
likely a teenager and Elizabeth may have been in her forties), the miraculous circumstances 
surrounding both conceptions would melt away the years of differences.

What a relief those words must have been to Mary, "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."  
Now she had someone with whom she could confide and someone who would confirm that an 
angel named Gabriel existed and that miraculous births were still possible.  Or, as the angel had 
said, "For nothing is impossible with God." 

It shouldn't surprise us that Mary began immediately making arrangements for a quick visit to 
Judea to see her cousin.  Several weeks with Elizabeth, and her cousin's words of comfort and 
strength, would provide Mary with the strength to return to Nazareth to face her friends and 
relatives with her amazing story.

Have you ever struggled with a personal problem that threatened to drown you with depression 
and despair?  Have you ever wondered—"Will I ever survive this?"  Just like Mary, God provides 
us with comforting relatives who can strengthen us to deal with life's crises.  Paul spoke of the 
comfort in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in 
all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we 
ourselves have received from God" (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

When you're at the end of the rope, pick up the phone and call a brother or sister in Christ.  The 
next time you need to talk, grab that friend at church and say, "Can we talk?"  Let a fellow 
believer share your struggle that you might share in their strength.  It worked for Mary; it'll work 
for you.

See you next week!