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The angel Gabriel had delivered news to Mary the likes of which she could not have comprehended with human logic or reason. Mary had found favor with God—undeserving, unmerited grace. What wonderful news to receive! Which of us would not like to hear news of God’s grace and presence in our lives? But God’s favor in Mary’s life, as is often the case in our lives, did not come sunshine and roses. In Mary’s life, as in our own lives, God’s favor and calling was not for her comfort and acclaim, it was for God’s purposes and His glory. For Mary this meant hearing the news Gabriel spoke to her and even in a state of bewilderment, responding, “…Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary did not understand the biology of how she would conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would have been incapable of debating such a happening with any disbelieving learned men of her time. She likely did not yet have the words to explain such an occurrence to Joseph, the man she was legally and publicly committed to marry. Yet with faith in her heart, she leaned not to her own understanding, but trusted God completely (Proverbs 3:5).

Thousands of years later, the virgin birth of Jesus is one of the cornerstone doctrines of our Christian faith. There is not and likely will never be human understanding of how God made it so. Our belief in the virgin birth of Jesus is rooted in our belief that God’s divine prerogative defies human understanding. While we reject the notion of Christianity being anti-intellectual, we readily acknowledge and proclaim that our faith and hope are not based on our human understanding, but on our complete trust in the one true and living God.

It is easy to boast of our trust in God when it aligns with our human understanding or with the collective understanding and positions of our times. The true test of our faith is whether we will decide, like Mary, to trust God with all our hearts when we don’t understand and when our obedience to God results in sacrifice, personal difficulty, and pain. As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ our Savior, may we be inspired by Mary’s faith, to say yes to God and trust Him completely, even when it is challenging.