Luke 1:46-47 NLT

'Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!'

The phrase “bursting with excitement” comes to mind as I read these words of Mary’s song. Following the promise of the angel Gabriel, she has travelled to visit her cousin Elizabeth, also with child, and their immediate encounter was one of those Holy Spirit moments that resonate throughout all of history. Consequently, Mary bursts into song, professing her joy in both God and the fact that she is the chosen mother of God’s Son, Jesus.

In a time when we are more used to cynicism and despair than celebratory rejoicing, it can be challenging to muster a song of praise. God is unchanging, even as our life’s circumstances are subject to regular and often extreme change. To magnify God is to allow me to move to see that God is larger than any circumstance in which I find myself. God becomes obscured to the degree that I allow my pressures and problems to expand to fill all my mental and emotional space. Now I am subject to my own moods and anxieties, with no space for God to appear.

Mary was facing a challenge. Unmarried, yet engaged. Now pregnant with a rather far-fetched account of how this has come about. Vulnerable, for if her fiancé deserted her, then of course she would be disowned by her own family as well, and face a very uncertain future. Yet, the confirmation of God’s work by God’s Spirit only loosens her tongue in praise and thanksgiving.

Worshipping God is always counterintuitive. When I travelled internationally many years ago in Christian ministry, I met and stayed with Christian communities who were physically at risk and usually living on the breadline. Yet their welcome was overwhelming, their hospitality generous and their worship authentic.

QUESTION: What benefits do you enjoy as a result of God’s love and acceptance?

PRAYER: Lord God, may you appear larger in my gaze and thoughts than anything else. I magnify your name.