God Moves Toward Us in the Ordinary

God Moves Toward Us in the Ordinary

Mary

Read

Luke 1:26-38

Devotional

Mary’s days in Nazareth probably felt a lot like ours. Ordinary rhythms. Familiar plans. A future that seemed steady and predictable. Nothing in her life suggested she stood at the turning point of the promise God made generations earlier.

But God often moves in the places we pass by without a second thought. He slips into quiet spaces carrying purposes far deeper than we would ever expect.

Gabriel’s greeting reached Mary before she had time to steady herself. She was seen. She was chosen. She was called favored by the God who has always kept His word. The child would be the Son of the Most High, the promised heir to David’s throne. And this announcement comes not in a palace, but in a quiet home in Nazareth on an ordinary day like all the rest. The hope Israel carried for centuries was suddenly entrusted to her, and in time the very Son of God would be formed beneath her beating heart.

Mary asked the honest question any of us would ask: “How will this be?”

She knew human limits. She also felt the weight, understanding that obedience would cost her something real.

The angel’s answer was steady and kind. The Holy Spirit would do what she could not. The power of God would overshadow her. The same presence that hovered over creation and filled the tabernacle would now draw near to her, for God Himself was coming into the world through the child she would bear.

And God gave her one more mercy. Elizabeth, once called barren, was already expecting. A quiet reminder that God’s promises were already unfolding in places Mary could not yet see.

I love Mary’s response. It is simple and trusting: “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be to me according to Your word.”

She did not see the whole road. She could not predict the cost. She simply hoped in the One who is faithful. And this is the quiet posture we are invited into as well, right in the middle of our own ordinary routines and unseen costs.

Most of God’s invitations still arrive this way. They come quietly, in the life we already have, carrying a cost we did not plan for and a grace we did not expect. God steps toward us. He calls us to trust Him. And in the quiet places of our real lives, He does what only He can do, already near, already speaking, already working good in ways we cannot yet see.

Reflection Questions

1.     Where is God inviting me to trust Him even though I cannot see the whole road?

2.     What specific act of obedience am I avoiding because I don’t want to pay the cost?

3.     If I truly believed God was near, faithful, and working, what is the one thing I would finally stop resisting?

ADVENT PRAYER

Father,

You are the God who meets us in quiet places. You come close when we feel unnoticed, and You work in ways we do not always see. Help us slow down enough to notice You. Help us see Your goodness in the ordinary moments of our lives.

Give us a heart like Mary’s. Not her role, but her trust. Teach us to say, “Let it be to me according to Your word,” even when we do not understand what comes next. Show us that we can rest in Your promises because You never fail to keep them.

Where the cost of following You feels heavy, give us strength. Where fear rises, calm our hearts with Your presence. Where we feel unsure of what You are doing, remind us that You are near and that You are working for our good, even when we cannot see it yet.

Open our eyes to see where Your hand is already at work. Break through the noise and hurry that fill our days. Help us trust that Your Spirit is still doing what only You can do as He brings hope, gives life, and makes a way where we cannot.

As we wait for the coming of Christ, grow in us a simple, steady hope in You. Let our quiet moments of trust become small reflections of Your great faithfulness.

We ask this because we want our lives to honor You and point to the hope we have in Jesus.

Amen.