Luke 1:46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed…”

Mary, the teenage girl who is engaged to be married to Joseph, finds out she is pregnant by God himself and sings this beautiful song that runs through v.55. I’m drawn to the words of v.46 “My soul magnifies the Lord…”.

As one might expect, Mary was a bit freaked out by the news she would become pregnant despite being an unmarried virgin. The angel Gabriel explained things to her and Mary submitted herself to God’s designs – an incredible act of faith. There were any number of things that could have gone wrong with this scenario, all of which would have been bad news for Mary. She could have been ostracized by her family, rejected by her fiancee, or even stoned to death by the community at large. But instead, Mary accepts this news as a blessing and then sings a song,

“My soul magnifies the Lord…” 

Her soul is her innermost being. It is the eternal part of her that will live on once the physical body has died. It is her soul that “magnifies” the Lord, increases God’s size and scope in such a way that other considerations fall to the wayside. As a result her spirit “rejoices” in God, delights in him, submits to God her very life to do with as he pleases. Rather than view this as a curse, she will be called “blessed” forever.

In the midst of life’s questions without answers, struggles with no known solutions, journeys with no reliable maps – all of which can understandably produce anxiety in the bravest of souls – there is our God.

Today I’m taking a cue from Mary. Lord, by your grace, empower my weary soul to magnify you. Trust you. Enlarge you so that other considerations fall by the wayside. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.