Overwhelmed at the Presence of God

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

“Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.” Luke 1:46–55

Mary saw a most remarkable thing about God: He was about to change the world forever. The most important thirty plus years of history were about to begin.  

And just before that time started, God was interacting with two women; one old and childless, Elizabeth, the Mother of John the Baptizer, and a young virgin, Mary, the soon-to-be Mother of Jesus. Mary was so moved by the experience that she broke out in song—a song that has come to be known as “The Magnificat.”

One thing that strikes me about Mary and Elizabeth is their humble faith. I think Luke was impressed by it as well. He seemed to emphasize that lowly and cheerful humility to Theophilus, his “noble” reader. Listen to Elizabeth, “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” [Luke 1:43] And again to Mary, “For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;” [Luke 1:48].  

Christ followers are also people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord like Elizabeth and Mary—people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the loving presence of the magnificent God.