Making Room for Favor

“In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” —Luke 1:25-30

The story of Jesus’ birth begins with two empty wombs: one—barren. The other—virgin. And into the emptiness of their wombs, God’s favor creates new life.

FAVOR FOR THE BARREN

Elizabeth had worn the shame of being childless for decades. Barrenness was a stigma that defined her life. To Elizabeth, the world said, “You’re too late. You missed your moment.”

Yet God steps in and says, “I’m right on time.”

“In these days he has shown his favor,” Elizabeth affirms.

She also acknowledges that even though she yearned and prayed for a child, it was not a right God owed her. It was not something she had earned through her prayers and righteous living. This child was a gift.

“The Lord has done this for me,” she says. The Greek word used for “done” here is also translated “make,” “create,” or “author.”

The Lord has done this.

Not her achievements.

Not her perfect planning.

Not her stellar spiritual performance.

Not her friends, nor her husband.

No, the Lord authored this moment before Elizabeth was born. He prepared her for this and was waiting for the right time to act. The fact that this gift was given at the end of her life was not a mistake, but a well-timed intentional act of love.

And Elizabeth receives it as such. She says in verse 25, “All he had to do was gaze upon me, and my shame was cut off ” (my translation).

And isn’t that just what God does?

In the places we too have felt shame, God says, “Let me hold you. Receive my loving gaze upon you and your shame will melt away. No more hiding. No more disgrace. Just grace.”

God took Elizabeth’s shame and replaced it with the desire of her heart—a child. And that’s what happens when God beholds us. He removes the shame of our barrenness by planting new life within us.

FAVOR FOR THE VIRGIN  

In contrast to Elizabeth who had waited for years to get pregnant, Mary hadn’t planned on it and wasn’t prepared. When the angel appeared to Mary announcing that heaven was invading earth in her womb, she was probably wondering, How am I going to do this? I’m not equipped for this!

The world would have said, “Mary, you’re not enough.”

Not smart enough.

Not experienced enough.

Not qualified enough.

Not religious enough.

Can you relate? I know I can.

But to Mary, the virgin, when the world says, “You’re not enough,” God steps in and says, “You are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Why did Mary warrant such a blessing? The text says she was favored by God. This term “favor” here means “gift.” There was nothing she could have done to earn this. God pursued her with a gift of grace.

As an achiever, I strive really hard to be enough. Actually—more than enough. I want to be seen as successful in almost every area of my life. Sometimes, I mistakenly think I can earn God’s favor this way.

But in the midst of my striving, God chases me down with his grace and says, “You don’t have to earn my favor because you already have it. I have already chosen and called you. You don’t need to keep running to prove you are enough to everyone. You can slow down now.”

What good news in a success-driven, achievement-oriented world! Like Mary and me, God meets all of us exactly where we are and says, “I choose you. In the places you don’t feel like enough, I am.”

God weaves the stories of these two women and the children they will bear into a tapestry of grace. His favor upon Mary and Elizabeth brings extraordinary children through their wombs. But his favor also transforms who they are becoming in the process.

His favor meets these women in the very places considered unfavorable by the world and fills the emptiness with hope.

To the barren woman, God’s favor replaces shame with honor.

To the virgin woman, God’s favor replaces unworthiness with purpose.

Two gifts of life given in love that change the world.

God comes into the world through favor.

We make room for him by receiving it.

Taken from Making Room in Advent by Bette Dickinson. ©2022 by Bette Dickinson and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA . Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.