And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" (Luke 1:30).

Read Luke 1:26-29.

Frustration is sitting on the floor with six or seven strings of Christmas lights all tangled together. After a short struggle I gave up and handed the whole mess to dad. And even though I'd left the tangled ball of wire and lights even more tightly tangled than before, in dad's skilled Navy hands they were untangled and ready for the tree in a jiffy.

When Mary heard the greeting of the angel Gabriel, she was frustrated, confused, perplexed and greatly troubled-like I felt trying to untangle the lights. A debate began raging back and forth in her mind as she considered what the greeting meant. Why had the angel come? What message would he bring?

There is so much confusion in life. Just like Mary we try to pick through the tangled pieces of our lives and see if we can make sense out of them. Our minds go back and forth from one point of view to another, from faith to doubt, from confidence to uncertainty, from comfort to fear.

Thankfully, nothing is a mystery for God. He arranges everything according to His loving plan. He assures us, "I know the plans I have for you ... plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (see Jeremiah 29:11). The most important part of that plan was starting to fall into place right now. God's own Son is becoming human, so He can live a perfect life and suffer on the cross in our place to win eternal life for all of us.

THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, life can be very confusing. In such times remind me to cast my cares into Your hands so I may live in peace and quietness. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Today's Bible Readings: Zechariah 5-8    Jude

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