Nougat 7

Has God manifested in your lives recently? If yes, what was it like? How did you respond? In light of your responses, please receive today’s Holy Nougat

“But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:29‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

Mary did not recognize the angel.

Can you imagine that?! She heard a voice speaking to her; calling her by name, declaring God’s favor upon her, advising her of God’s presence with her and blessing her. But she didn’t know who it was that spoke to her, nor the purpose of the conversation.

And though the next verse has an admonition for her to be calm; ‘pondering’ is not the same as panic. Mary was caught by surprise and was processing the information she had heard. And what she heard initially didn’t make sense. Can you imagine – you are minding your own business and suddenly someone began talking. And, from what we’ve read, she had no prior warning.

• How would we react to this?

• Would we have auto-panicked; alarmed at how this man came up, knew us and had all those favorable things?

• Would we be in defense mode; ensuring that we protected ourselves from the stranger? How would we have defended ourselves?

• Would we have tried to solve the mystery, given the circumstances?

• What would we do now if God sends a messenger to us; given A) our knowledge of Mary’s experience, and our current contexts? I tell you, I would probably be as perplexed as Mary.

For the record, God wants to speak with us; individually and collectively. We might not hear all the same praises as Mary but I assure everyone that God wishes to speak with us and equip us for whatever we need to do. It could be the still, small voice; or an angel or another person. I can’t say how.

Are we listening? Are we ready for the mighty move of God in our lives m?

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May all we seek be found in Christ