Have you ever blindly trusted someone or taken a leap of faith? People in the Bible had their fair share of those! For example, there was a man named Moses who had to do some amazing miracles in front of a king, Pharaoh, and he had to trust that God would do the miracles like he said. But this wasn’t exactly blind trust, was it? God told Moses what he would do, and so Moses believed that he would do what he said.

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Another example of someone fully trusting God is the story of Mary, which is actually who this verse is talking about! These words were spoken by Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin. Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph, and she was a virgin. Before she and Joseph are married, an angel, Gabriel, comes to talk to Mary. Gabriel tells her that she is going to have a son by the Holy Spirit.  

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This is a pretty big revelation! And very sudden, too. Can you imagine being randomly visited by an angel and they say, “Oh, by the way, you’re gonna give birth to the Son of God. No pressure, though.” Gabriel also tells Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, is going to have a baby, too, even though she was supposedly barren, and that she is already six months along.  This news is super important and exciting, so Mary immediately goes to Elizabeth’s house.

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The Bible tells us that “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leapt in her womb” (Luke 1:41). I believe this means that Mary wasn’t even in the room yet, and Elizabeth’s child reacted—because he was close to Jesus already. The Bible also says that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she yells out blessings on Mary and Jesus.  

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This is proof that Mary trusted what God told her through Gabriel. First, she went to see Elizabeth, because Gabriel said that Elizabeth was going to be pregnant. I believe Mary’s blessing for her faith and her trust in God was the relief of knowing that the baby she was carrying really was the Son of God (as if the whole pregnant virgin thing wasn’t enough), and that Elizabeth said, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary must have been so relieved! Not only to see confirmation that what Gabriel said was true, but also to have someone believe her. I’m sure being a “pregnant virgin” wasn’t easy—most people probably didn’t believe her, but Elizabeth did. Having her cousin to talk to during that rough time must have made things so much better for her.

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Mary endured a lot of hardship in her life, and it definitely didn’t stop after Jesus was born. But she knew that God was with her, and she knew she could trust him, just like she had from the beginning.  

Dear Lord, thank you for this day, and thank you that I can trust you when I’m going through times of uncertainty. I ask that you would help me be courageous and to be a good steward of your will, just like Mary was when you entrusted her with the most important thing of all. In your name, Amen.