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- Day 1
- Day 2
Day 3: The Trouble with Mary
Yesterday Mary found herself looking into the face of an angel, sent by God. Gabriel greeted Mary and told her, this humble young virgin, of her favor with God and man. We’re not taking time right now to delve into the reasons some of us could listen to other’s acclimates to our name– a roasting if you will- while others would prefer just not to be the subject of the same, but when God says you are favored, it’s a blessing to behold. And that’s exactly what God, through Gabriel has just spoken. So, what’s the trouble with Mary?
Not Mary
Not Mary. As Gabriel greeted her, she didn’t sit up straighter or happily enjoy this moment. Instead, she was troubled in her heart. Did she even hear what the angel was saying? Or did the mere sight of him cause her heart to stir in fear?
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Luke 1:26-29
Big trouble
In the Greek, the word used here, troubled, is: διεταράχθη,
dietarachthē.
1298 diatarássō (from 1223 /diá, “through, to the limit,” intensifying 5015/tarássō, “trouble, stir up”) – properly, acutely distressed, “through and through” (note the force of the prefix, dia); greatly disturbed; “agitate greatly (Latin perturbare)” (Abbott-Smith), intensely going back-and-forth (to-and-fro) between inner thoughts and emotions (used only in Lk 1:29).
https://biblehub.com/greek/1298.htm
Oh Sisters, Mary wasn’t just fearful in her heart, she wasn’t simply afraid or frightened, she was terrified. She was so intensely fearful that God chose a word here that He never used again. I can think of a handful of biblical account where fear was an understandable response.
Fear Understood
Into the Mouths of Lions
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion’s den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
Daniel 6:16
A Boy, 5 Stones and a Giant
44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
I Samuel 17:44
An old man, an angry God and an odd job
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Genesis 6:13
Two Sisters and their dead brother
And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
John 11:19
Jesus and the shadow of the Cross
And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luke 22:44
Can’t you agree? These, and so many more in the pages of the Bible, are times where diatarasso (dee at ar as’ so), a very troubled heart, would be appropriate. But, that’s not what God says. He tells us it was here when Gabriel greeted Mary (and he hadn’t even begun with his message from God for her) that her heart was troubled beyond anyone else’s we’d read about in all of scripture. Friends, as I think of all these people we just mentioned and the position they were in with circumstances in their lives, and then I think of Mary meeting God’s angel, it’s just beyond my own comprehension of what she may have felt that deserves this sole use of the word: diatarasso.
Do you know Diatarasso?
What’s troubling your own heart in such a very big way? I’m following along and praying for a few women who take their babies in for chemo and radiation treatments each week. I’ve prayed for and watch mommas and daddies give up their hope for answered prayers here on earth for their children in trade for new treasures in heaven. I’ve been crushed with friends who are widows, at very young ages. Part of me dies with each piece of news from family and friends that no one wants to ever face. My own heart has imagined Mary’s fear in the valley’s the Lord has walked with me through. And so I ask again, do you know your own diatarasso? What is it, friend?
Like Mary
We learned yesterday of God’s favor to us. How we are loved by Him, just like Mary. Do you think He knows we would fear in our own hearts just like her, too? Do you think God shuffles out judgement to His children when circumstances cause a troubled heart? He doesn’t. What do we hear so many people and in so many places when it comes to the Bible and fear? Something like, “do not fear” is said 365 times in the Bible. Now, I don’t know if that is true or not, but what I do know, is that God knew-knows-we would tend be fearful people.
Do not fear
No matter how many times God tells us, “Do not fear,” one thing we know is it’s because He loves us. He didn’t chastise Mary for have a more fearful heart than anyone else. He chose her. He didn’t slam down hail and fire on her head because she was acutely distressed. God doesn’t condemn us in our fear, but He assures us our fear is misplaced and that He is faithful.
He is faithful
Mary saw this out of the ordinary, very strange, and totally unexpected sight of an angel, and he was talking to her. She blew up inside in fear. This is far from the end of her story, but it’s an important part of it. We know she was highly favored among women–God’s perspective and other’s-but she wasn’t exempt from the very feelings we struggle with, too. Sometimes fear is the quickest reaction. Every time, God is faithful. What should we do, then, when too struggle between our thoughts and emotions?
Am I alone in my fears?
Am I the only God fearing woman who has a weakness here? I don’t think so. Like every loving parent when our child is afraid, and it doesn’t matter if they are a toddler or an adult, we want to comfort them in their fear. It’s no small matter to a child-being so afraid. It’s no smaller to a young adult, or old adult, making his/her way through unchartered and stormy seas of life. And, certainly, it’s not an easy thing to want to take away the fear of those we love with all our being, and be so limited in our flesh. But, unlike us, God possess the ability to deliver each of us from every one of our fears.
Delivered from fear
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Psalm 56:3
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Psalm 34:17
Be Near Me Lord Jesus
I’ll close with this, and I hope you sing it often to remind you of God’s very truth “…be near me Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray.”
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 4:8a
See you tomorrow, Friends. God bless you!
