The Christmas story is absolutely astounding, but like we talked about last week, sometimes word pictures can become so familiar that we gloss over the fine print and miss out on important parts of the story. For example, I was rereading the account in Luke 1 about the angel appearing to Mary to let her know that she was going to have a baby. As if to reassure her that his message was legit, the angel even told Mary that her barren relative, Elizabeth, was miraculously entering her third trimester! After hearing the angel’s news, Mary went to visit Elizabeth in person.

So, in a nutshell, Scripture tells us that the angel showed up out of nowhere, shocked Mary with the news of God’s plan for her, told her about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and then left (v. 38). That’s the part of the story that is very familiar to me. Yet, the very next verse says, “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to [Elizabeth’s town].” I don’t know about you, but I probably would have splashed water on my face to be sure I wasn’t dreaming and then called my best friend to say, “You are not going to believe this!” while still reeling about the angelic encounter.

But, not Mary; she just walked right out the door in faith. As far as we know, Mary might not have even been pregnant yet. It sounds like after the angel left, she put her walking shoes on and high-tailed it to Judea. I love the way The Message paraphrase says that “Mary didn’t waste a minute” to go and see Elizabeth.

God gave Mary a promise, and she didn’t hesitate to believe it and act on it. The angel concluded his talk with Mary by reminding her that “no word from God will ever fail” (v. 37), and Elizabeth exclaimed how blessed Mary was because she believed God’s promise (v. 45). As we begin our advent journey this week, let us all be encouraged that God holds true to his promises.