And this reaction, in my opinion, demonstrates one really important character trait that Mary had
that's super important for everybody today and especially our teenagers to understand.
And that character trait is humility.
Her reaction was not,
Thank you, I know.
It instead was incredibly humble.
The Bible is full of examples of young people doing extraordinary things.
Last episode, we looked at David and talked about the importance of teenagers understanding their identity,
like David did when he was faced with the task of fighting Goliath.
Our next example is that of Mary from the Gospel of Luke.
Mary was a young teenager when she was visited by an angel and told that she would give birth to Jesus.
As we look at this story, let's focus on Mary's reaction to the news in that conversation with the angel Gabriel.
So Gabriel appears to Mary in Luke chapter 1 and says this to her,
Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.
Greetings, O favored one.
Not a bad thing to hear from an angel, right?
Could be a lot worse.
And people throughout the Bible did hear much different messages from angels that weren't as good as this one is.
But look at her reaction in verse 29.
Mary, but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this may be.
So an angel shows up, gives her good news, says,
O favored one, the Lord is with you.
And she's greatly troubled. Why?
Well, first of all, an angel shows up.
That could be troubling, right? And that would be shocking.
No matter who you are, no matter how old you are, a young teenage girl or a grown man, it doesn't matter.
An angel shows up. It's going to be troubling.
But she's not just troubled by the appearance of the angel, also what the angel was saying.
She's trying to figure out what this guy is talking about.
Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.
And this reaction, in my opinion, demonstrates one really important character trait that Mary had.
That's super important for everybody today and especially our teenagers to understand.
And that character trait is humility.
Her reaction was not, thank you, I know.
It instead was incredibly humble.
One of my favorite verses or passages regarding humility comes from 1 Peter 5.
Starting in verse 5, it goes like this.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another,
for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
so at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.
These verses make me think of Mary, but they also remind me of Generation Z.
Mary was not seeking a platform or seeking fame.
She was living her life in a way that was honoring to the Lord and was humble.
Generation Z, as we've talked about before, is known as the social generation.
The generation that watches other young people achieve fame in ways that we haven't really seen before.
Through social media, through YouTube, through short videos, wherever it is,
young people can achieve fame and achieve a platform.
And it seems really achievable and it's desirable to young people.
But the Bible encourages us and young people specifically to humble themselves under God's mighty hand.
Humble themselves under His perfect timing, that He may exalt you at the proper time.
And what else Peter addresses in these verses is anxiety.
Right after that, he says, cast your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.
Because sometimes it's stressful and it doesn't make sense to stop, pause, and humble yourself under God.
Because maybe you're a young person today who's eager.
Maybe you feel like the Lord has marked you for something.
Maybe you have a goal. You think you know where your life is headed.
You have these goals. You want to do these things.
Maybe good things for the Lord. It's on your heart.
But that's not where you are right now and you feel stuck or you feel like you're spinning your wheels.
Maybe at school or in a job that isn't what you're passionate about.
Here's my encouragement to you.
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
Trust in Him and trust in the Lord's perfect timing.
Work hard wherever the Lord currently has you, in school or in a job that feels like a dead end.
excellently for the Lord. Colossians 3.23 says, whatever you do, work heartedly as for the Lord,
not for men. So do it excellently, even if it's not that ultimate goal that you're trying to
achieve or what you feel passionate about. And also, Peter says, cast, like we said, cast your
anxieties on him because he cares for you. God cares about you and your future, so trust in him
and give him your anxieties. Don't just give him your anxieties. Cast them on the Lord. Throw them
to the Lord. Get them away from you. What's troubling you? What's making you anxious?
What's bothering you? Throw it to the Lord. Pray about what scares you, about what worries you.
Pray about your future and trust in God. So back to Mary. The Lord had a plan for her
and she humbly responded. The angel Gabriel explains to Mary what's going to happen,
that she's going to become pregnant, that she's going to give birth to a baby, and not just any
baby, but this baby is going to be the son of God and is going to change the world. She does ask a
clarifying question because she is not married yet and had never been with a man. So Gabriel
explains that to her, how it's going to happen, and then responds in verse 37 by saying, for nothing
will be impossible with God. Mary then responds and says, behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
Let it be done to me according to your word. What a powerful and humble response from the young
teenage Mary. So what can we learn from the example of Mary? Three things. Number one,
humility. Let's talk about humility. Let's teach humility. Let's emphasize
the power of being humble. In a generation striving for fame and influence, what if instead
we strive for making God famous instead of ourselves? What if we use the influence platform,
whatever we have, the circle, social circles we're in, if you're in school, if you're in work,
wherever the Lord has you, what if the goal is promoting Him instead of promoting ourselves?
Let's humbly submit to God's plan for our lives. Let's humbly submit to His perfect timing,
and wherever we are, strive for making Him more known instead of ourselves.
Let's push that agenda. Let's push the Lord in front and let's follow Him. Let's follow Him.
So number one, humility. Let's strive for making God famous more than ourselves. And number two is
trusting in the Lord. Mary trusted in God with something that sounded absolutely crazy,
with something that sounded impossible, because it was. But Mary trusted in God. Let's trust in
God with what scares us, with what doesn't make sense to us, with what's confusing to us. Let's
give it to the Lord and trust in Him. Let's trust in God with what seems impossible, because,
number three, nothing is impossible with God. Do we believe that today? Do we practice that? Do we
live with faith, with a faith that's big enough to know that God can do anything, that nothing is
impossible for Him? Do we talk about that? Do we live that way? Because if we don't, if the older
generation doesn't, then the younger generation probably won't either. Do our teenagers, does
generation Z believe that, that nothing is impossible for God? Let's live with a faith
like the faith that Mary had, because we serve a God who can do the impossible. He can do the
impossible with those who trust in Him and believe in Him regardless of their age, because that's the
part that doesn't matter. Mary was a young teenager, but God saw her. He could have used someone older,
but He saw her and her faith and her trust and how she was living her life and the humility
that she walked with, and He said, I can use her and was not worried about the age. So if you're a
young person today, don't be caught up about that, about how old you are or how capable you think you
are. Seek God first. Trust in Him. Humble yourself under His plan and His timing. Walk closely with
Him and follow Him. In the next episode, we'll look at another biblical example
of the Lord using a young person to do more extraordinary things.