What The Almighty Has Done

What The Almighty Has Done

For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.

Luke 1:48–49

What’s the proper way to speak about Mary? If you think about the words in this passage, they will teach you to say, “Blessed virgin, mother of God, you were unimportant and ignored by people. However, because God is kind, he looked favorably on you and performed great things in you. You didn’t deserve any of those things, and you never could have earned them. Nevertheless, God’s rich and unlimited grace rested on you. You were blessed the first moment you found such a God, and you will be blessed forever.”

To show Mary the proper respect, you must always think of her in relation to God—standing far beneath him. Mary said that God looked favorably on her for being a humble servant. Don’t think about all the honors people have heaped on Mary. These people don’t see that they are drowning out Mary’s own words in this passage. Their eloquent words make the mother of God sound like a liar and diminish God’s grace. To the degree that they say she earned or deserved what God did for her, they lower the value of God’s grace and make the truths in this passage more difficult to understand.

You should marvel at God’s unlimited grace. He generously and tenderly cared for, embraced, and blessed such a despised, insignificant person as Mary. If you think about her in this light, you will be inspired to love and praise God for his abundant grace. You will be encouraged to look for everything that is good from him alone. From what happened to Mary, you can learn that God doesn’t reject humble, poor, insignificant people. He tenderly cares for them. This will strengthen your faith, love, and hope.