We’re continuing our series, “God With Us,” in which we consider the miracle of God's presence in every moment of our lives. The miracle of Christmas is that God came to us in Jesus Christ. He walked among us, lived among us, and is with us.
Today, we will talk about God with us in our fear. Whenever we face fearful times, God is with us, and his presence reassures us with his promises, empowers us with his strength, and comforts us with his favor.
Yesterday, we had two great men’s and women’s events. The ladies had their annual Secret Sister event, and I could not attend. The ladies have a great time there every year.
Last night, the men had a bowling night, and I was allowed to attend. When you walk in, they give you a pair of bowling shoes, and I don’t want to think about how many people have worn those shoes before. But you stand up at the lane wearing your bowling shoes, and you’re holding your bowling ball, getting ready to throw the ball. You line up your throw, expecting to hit the pins right in this pocket toward the center, where you can knock down all the pins.
In your mind, the ball will go right there and knock down all the pins. But that’s not what happens. You throw the ball, and the ball drifts this way and that way. It’s not what you planned. You meant to knock down all the pins, but now you hope it will hit something.
Sometimes, life is like that. You planned to go one way, but instead, you find yourself going in a completely different direction than what you planned. In bowling, there’s only one direction that you want to go. But in life, sometimes God takes you in a different direction than you planned, and his direction is always better.
But when you’re in those moments and seeing things change, it can be scary. It can be fearful when you are not in control. How can we trust God’s direction in fearful times? We’ll look at this in Luke 1:26-38. If you have your Bibles, please open them there.
"In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged, to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.' But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.' Mary asked the angel, 'How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?' The angel replied to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.' 'See, I am the Lord’s servant,' said Mary. 'May it happen to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her." Luke 1:26–38
This story is an incredible moment in history. A young teenage girl named Mary receives a message from one of God's angels, Gabriel. The angel Gabriel appears a few times in Scripture. He appears in the book of Daniel, bringing Daniel a message from God in Daniel 8 and Daniel 9. And the other time Gabriel appears in Scripture is here, in Luke 1, where he predicts the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, who is Mary’s relative. He then predicts the birth of Jesus to Mary.
While everything around the message from Gabriel to Mary is incredibly astounding and a supernatural miracle, at the heart of what is happening in Luke 1:26-38 is something profoundly human and relatable. In this story, God comforts a young woman who is scared and is facing the unknown.
While her circumstances are incredible, her fear is relatable. What kind of fear is she facing? I will outline four fears she faces, and as you examine them, you will find ones you can relate to.
Fear #1: The Fear of the Unknown
The first kind of fear she is dealing with is the fear of the unknown.
What must this vision have been like? Mary was minding her business. She was going along in life, engaged to a man, and getting ready to be married. She was planning things out and was probably pretty happy with the engagement.
Mary is a young teenager, maybe 13 to 15 years old. She is not floating around on a cloud with prayer hands. She is a young woman who's probably pretty obedient to her parents and preparing for her new life as Joseph’s wife.
All of a sudden, this angel appears, and his appearance might give all of us a heart attack. Her life suddenly changes from the life she knows to the appearance of the unknown. This angel and his message were not in the plans. This angel has to tell this young, trembling girl, “Do not be afraid, Mary,” because Mary was facing the fear of the unknown.
If you’ve ever encountered a brand new situation you were unprepared for, you know the fear of the unknown.
Fear #2: The Fear of Inadequacy
The second kind of fear she is dealing with is the fear of inadequacy. The angel starts describing all these incredible things: that she will conceive, give birth to a son, and name the son Jesus. It goes on that this baby will be the Son of God and reign on David's throne. And she must have been like, "Hold on. You must have taken a wrong turn and are looking for another Mary.”
She's young, but she still knows at least the basics. There's no way that she's adequate for this. She's not even married yet. She tells the angel, “I haven't even had sexual relations with a man.” She doesn't feel adequate for everything the angel is telling her.
If you’ve ever been given a role you felt unqualified for, you know the fear of inadequacy.
Fear #3: The Fear of Social Consequences
The third kind of fear she is dealing with is the fear of social consequences. Although this fear is not explicitly stated in the text, it will be the natural result of the angel's message in her life. It's not like the angel Gabriel went to the town square of Nazareth and told everybody, “Just so you guys know, everything is entirely legit here. This is a miracle from God. We don't want anybody spreading rumors.”
It doesn't say where exactly the angel gave Mary this message, but it seems it's somewhere private. How is Mary going to explain this to her parents? Will she walk up to her parents and say, “See, what happened was there was this angel Gabriel. He told me I'm going to have a baby, and it'll be the Son of the Most High, and he will be a king. So, I’m pregnant.” How is that going to go? Her parents will start looking for this fellow, Gabriel, to have a good heart-to-heart conversation.
If you ever faced being judged unfairly because people didn’t understand what you were going through, you know the fear of social consequences.
Fear #4: The Fear of Change
The fourth fear she is dealing with is the fear of change. Mary's life is about to change radically. Mary was already preparing for change. She's engaged to Joseph, so she's preparing for the joys and challenges of married life, maybe thinking about kids and their new home. But that change is nothing compared to this!
Mary's life is about to change from a typical path for a young woman preparing for marriage to the extraordinary path of being the wife of Joseph and the mother of the Son of the Most High. Her life will never be the same again.
If you've ever experienced a moment when life takes an unexpected turn and realized that things will never be the same, you know the fear of change.
Mary's fears are deeply relatable. Whether you're dealing with the fear of the unknown, the fear of being inadequate, worrying about what others think, or anxiety about change, we've all faced these fears at some point.
What's incredible about this story is not Mary's fear. It's how God works in her life in the middle of her fear. I want to show you three ways in which God's presence draws Mary out of her fear, and I hope these three things will encourage you to seek God's presence when you are experiencing fear.
The first thing we see in this story about fear is this:
I. In Fearful Times, God’s Promises Reassure Us
If you've got a picture in your mind of a young Jewish teenage girl named Mary, you can start picturing how this young girl would be trembling with fear, her hands shaking as she looks up and sees an incredible angelic figure giving her a message from God. I don't know how I would take this, a guy in my forties, much less a young teenage girl named Mary.
To draw Mary out of her fear, God’s message starts with his promises to her about his presence and his favor. Listen to how the message to Mary begins in Luke 1:28:
"And the angel came to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.'” Luke 1:28
Mary, you are about to face some challenging times. There is going to be an incredible change in your life. Life is never going to be the same. But God’s promise to you is this: In all you are about to face, you are not doing it alone. The Lord is with you.
Mary, the Lord is with you because God promises that he favors you. Listen to how God is drawing Mary out of her fear by his promise of favor toward her. In Luke 1:30:
Then the angel told her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'" Luke 1:30
What Does It Mean to Have Favor with God?
The word translated “favor” here is the Greek word χάρις (charis). This word is in the New Testament a lot. This word is translated ten times in the New Testament as “favor,” but most of the time, it’s translated as “grace.” So, another way to look at Luke 1:30 is as if the angel is saying, “Mary, you don't have to be afraid because the grace of God is upon you.”
The promise of God's grace is a reason not to fear. When you're reading this story of Mary, realize that the promise of God's favor to her is a promise of God's favor to all of his children. God is no respecter of persons. He gives his grace freely to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. So, as a Christian, you don't have to be afraid when fearful times happen in your life because God’s grace is upon you.
The grace of God upon a Christian could be an entire series of sermons on its own, but I'll point out these verses for us in Romans 5:1-2:
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1–2
Notice his words there when he says, “This grace in which we stand.”
- Christian, when you are having a hard day, there is still a grace in which you stand.
- When you’ve fallen and messed up, there is still a grace in which you stand.
- When it feels like the world is falling apart, there is still a grace in which you stand.
God's promise of grace to Christians means we will stand because of Jesus Christ no matter what we face. In fearful times, God’s promises reassure us.
One of the fun things I did as a dad was teach both of my boys how to ride bicycles. I remember buying this awesome orange bike for one of my boys, which came with training wheels. It’s scary to take those training wheels off for your child because you know they’ll probably fall. I remember coaching my son, “Just keep looking forward!” My boys did fall, but they knew I was there to help them get back up each time they fell.
Just as I was there to help my boys when they fell, God's grace is there for us when we face life's fears because of his presence. God is with us in our fear. Christians always stand in his grace, no matter what. No matter our fears, God’s promises reassure us.
The second thing we see in this story about fear is this:
II. In Fearful Times, God’s Power Enables Us
Mary's eyes must have been bulging as she listened to what the angel told her. It starts with the angel telling her:
- You will conceive and give birth to a son.
- You will name him Jesus.
Her response shows that this is already too much for her young, teenage brain to handle. She can’t figure out how this will happen because she’s not married yet.
But the rest of this gets better. Who this baby will be gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
- He will be great.
- He will be called the Son of the Most High.
- The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David.
- He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
- His kingdom will have no end.
This is where Mary has to say, “Pause. Listen, some natural things need to take place for this to happen. I haven't even had sexual relations with a man yet. What are you talking about? How can this be?”
I want you to see that when you can’t figure out how God will get you through something, God will continually point you back to his power. Look at God’s message to Mary in Luke 1:35-37.
"The angel replied to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.'” Luke 1:35–37
In this passage, I want you to see three ways God enables us to trust him in fearful times. He does this by pointing to his power, giving examples, and reminding us that his power has no limits.
First,
A. God Enables Us to Trust Him by Pointing to His Power
Many times, we're like Mary. We look at a challenging situation with natural eyes and list all the possible natural solutions. When we run out of natural solutions, we say, “God, how in the world will you get me through this?” As Mary does in her question to the angel, we treat God as if our limits are his limits.
God responds by pointing to the power of his presence. He tells her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” The fact that the Holy Spirit is with any of us is an absolute, supernatural miracle from God. Today, the Holy Spirit continues to convict people of their sins and change their lives through faith in Jesus Christ. Every man, woman, or child saved by the supernatural power of God is an ongoing witness of God's miraculous power in the world. When the Holy Spirit abides in a person, his powerful presence in their life enables them to overcome fearful times.
God also tells her, “The power of the Most High will overshadow you.” This picture here that the angel gives Mary has profound biblical significance. The word for “overshadow” means to “cast a shadow over” or “to envelope.” This word is used in two other places in the New Testament (Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34) where a cloud overshadows the disciples, and they hear from God.
In the Old Testament, God would show his presence with his people through a cloud enveloping or overshadowing the Tabernacle. You see this in Exodus 40:34,
"The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle." Exodus 40:34
By telling Mary that the power of the Most High will overshadow you, God is saying, “Mary, you can trust me to get you through this because my presence is with you, and my glory will fill you. You don’t need a natural solution. You need the presence of my glory to fill you.”
When you give your life to Christ, the presence of his glory will fill you. He does this by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables you to overcome fearful times.
Second,
B. God Enables Us to Trust Him by Providing An Example of His Power at Work
When you need to trust God in a fearful time, God will point you to how his power is at work in others to remind you that he is mighty to get you through what you are facing. That’s precisely what God does with Mary in Luke 1:36.
God points Mary to her relative, Elizabeth. He says, “Do you need an example of my power? Look at Elizabeth.” There are no natural solutions to explain Elizabeth. We don’t like to call ladies “old” here, but describing her as “old” in this text is biblically correct. It says, “She has conceived a son in her old age.” God uses her miraculous pregnancy as a tangible example of his power at work.
God tells Mary, “Mary, I'm already doing miracles in the world that are above and beyond your expectations. You can see it in your own family. Don't you believe that I would do the same for you?”
God does the same for us, too. When you’re struggling to trust God in a fearful time, he’ll show you the example of how he worked in someone in your family, someone in the church, someone in Scripture, and tell you, “Don’t you believe that I have the power to do the same in your life?”
Third,
C. God Enables Us to Trust Him by Reminding Us His Power Knows No Limits
Not only does God remind us of his power and give us examples of his power at work, but he also reminds us that his power is strong enough to get us through the most impossible situations.
Listen to the message the angel gives Mary in Luke 1:37: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” When we see the impossible, God sees an opportunity for us to see the impossible with man as possible with God.
We need to believe that God can do the impossible—not only believe it but embrace it. It's one thing to believe theoretically that God can do the impossible. It's another to have a heartfelt conviction in your soul that, even though I don't know how God will do it, he will heal and save.
Facing an impossible situation is only possible when you believe in God’s power to do the impossible.
God’s power to do the impossible is the story of Israel. Picture the people of Israel—men, women, and children—standing before a huge sea. They’ve just been saved from slavery in Egypt, but now the Egyptians are coming to get them. They're stuck, trapped between the Egyptians and the Red Sea. The Egyptians have them cornered. This looks impossible. But listen to what Moses said to the people in Exodus 14:13 “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.” God didn’t need natural solutions. He parted the sea and created a path where none existed.
Just like Moses told the Israelites, we must often hear the message: “Don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation, which he will accomplish today.” We serve the same God, who has already accomplished the impossible in Jesus Christ. When you face fearful times, will you stand firm and wait for the Lord’s salvation? May that be true for us.
Last,
III. In Fearful Times, God’s Favor Comforts Us
This story shows a woman who goes from fear to faith, embracing God's grace. Remember where she is in the beginning—a woman trembling, where God has to say, “Don't be afraid!” Verse 29 says she was “deeply troubled” by what she heard. She struggles to grasp faith as she tries to understand God’s work.
But after she has been reassured by God’s promises and enabled to trust God’s power, she rests in the grace of God. Luke 1:38 shows us the comfort of the grace of God in her life. It says,
“'See, I am the Lord’s servant,' said Mary. 'May it happen to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her." Luke 1:38
God's grace is the most comforting thing in the world for a human being. When we learn to embrace the grace of God, the natural result is a life of service to the Lord.
- There is nothing better than the grace of God.
- There is nothing more fulfilling than the grace of God.
- There's nothing in all the Earth that will ever affect your life like the grace of God.
And when you learn of the grace of God, it causes you to say, “God, may it happen to me, as you have said.” There is rest and comfort in the grace of God because God’s grace is only available in Jesus Christ. He says in Matthew 11:28-29,
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28–29
Do you need rest for your soul today? Maybe you're facing a fearful time and can’t figure things out. In that case, you must embrace God's grace in Jesus Christ and find rest for your soul.
Conclusion
This incredible story of Mary shows us that God is with us in our fear, and he helps us overcome our fear. God doesn’t leave us in the fear of inadequacy, fear of consequences, or the fear of change. Instead,
- His promises reassure us that we are never alone and that His grace is always upon us.
- His power enables us, showing us that nothing is impossible with God, no matter how overwhelming our circumstances may seem.
- His favor comforts us, offering rest and peace as we embrace His grace and trust His plan.
When you are facing a fearful time, trust in Jesus' plan, believe in his promises, rest in his power, and trust in his grace. All of that begins with faith in Jesus. Maybe you need to surrender something to him. Trust Jesus, and find rest for your soul.
Sermon Reflection Questions
- What is the sermon's big idea regarding God's presence in times of fear?
- How does the story of Mary demonstrate the theme of facing fear?
- What four types of fears does Mary experience?
- What reassurance does God provide to Mary in her moment of fear?
- How can we trust God's direction during fearful times?
Preached on Sunday, 12/15/2024, at Catalyst Church San Diego. Click here to hear the sermon.