29But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. [simple_tooltip content=’26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.’](Luke 1:26-38)[/simple_tooltip]
The angel Gabriel didn’t say anything negative or derogatory to Mary. He just told her to rejoice because she was highly favored of God, the Lord was with her, and she was the most blessed woman who had ever lived. What was so disturbing about that?
The reality is that most of us aren’t accustomed to praise, and we are too focused on our faults. We may consider it rude for others to mention our shortcomings, but we can relate when they do. Praise, on the other hand, is uncomfortable. It causes us to blush, and when it comes from God it can be frightening! Why is that?
We don’t know how to handle praise because we have a wrong image of God. We tend to see Him as harsh, demanding, and condemning instead of the loving Father He is. We expect judgment, not mercy, from Him—and certainly not praise. The Bible says that God is love [simple_tooltip content=’He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.’](1 John 4:8)[/simple_tooltip]. That doesn’t mean He overlooks sin, but as His children, He forgives us and inspires us not to sin.
Like Mary, we don’t tend to see ourselves as God sees us. If Gabriel had rebuked her, she probably wouldn’t have been as troubled. She would’ve said, “It must be God.” But Gabriel did nothing but praise her, and in the end she received all God had for her. Recognize today that all believers are blessed and highly favored of the Lord—and that includes you!
