Mary: Trusting God’s Grace

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” — Luke 1:38

Why have we not taught that one should certainly trust in the grace of God, and count our works as of no value: or that they are not ours, be they ever so good, but God’s? For if the works were good according to the judgment of men, we would value our works so high that no one would be able to reward us. Therefore should we learn our humility from Mary: to submit ourselves wholly to God, so that if God speaks a word, we submit ourselves to it and believe it; although according to our understanding it appears impossible, we can say with her: “Lord, my mind is weak; but what Thou sayest, must take place. I am Thy servant; be it unto me according to Thy word!”

Now will every foolish question cease, for everyone would know before he does anything good (that is, what we call “good”) how much it will help him, but we will rest ourselves with trustful hearts wholly and unconditionally on the grace of God, who knows what we need before we ask Him, and knows what is proper to give us.

~Martin Luther

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Mary Gives God Glory

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. — Luke 1:46-47

See what a great work the almighty God begins with the humble Mary. Think not that if the Spirit of God had not enlightened her understanding and faith, she would not have been able of her own soul’s strength to have believed the angel. She would have regarded the speech of the angel rather as a deception or as a slander. For she, by no means, thought so of herself that she should be the mother of so great and excellent a Son, for the great promise was certainly far above her lowliness.

From this we learn, however, that the understanding of the Word of God and faith in it is not of any human reason or power, but cometh of the grace of God, which illuminates our minds and trains us.

Therefore Mary spoke with reason: “He that is mighty hath done to me great things, yea verily great things, for He hath so graciously spoken to me His lowly handmaiden, who never thought or imagined such a thing before He thus dealt with me.”

~Martin Luther

Excerpted with permission from Captivating Grace, copyright Zondervan.

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Your Turn

Let’s believe as Mary did. May we have the kind of faith she did and the heart to obey and rejoice as she did! As we meditate on Christ’s birth this Christmas season, let’s take our cue from Mary and respond to God, “I am the Lord’s servant.” Come share your thoughts on Mary’s humility on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily