Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time for Christians to prepare for the celebration of Christmas. Our family is celebrating the Festival of Advent each Sunday leading up to Christmas with scriptures and stories. Last week’s devotional is HERE.
In Luke 1 we read about this event:
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
The lesson for me is an important one. Mary asks, “How shall this be?” Gabriel answers, “With God nothing is impossible.” This is another example of the enabling power of the Atonement, and of Jesus Christ in our lives. We all have hard things given to us, and with God, nothing is impossible. And I’m sure Mary, even though she was willing, “be it unto me according to thy word”, was scared of the unknown. So many times I think we all face the unknown in similar ways. The Lord gives us trials to test us and to strengthen us, but if we allow His help, nothing is impossible. Our Father in Heaven loves us, because we are His children. He wants us to succeed. With God nothing is impossible.
Tonight, we will have the blessing of hearing from the First Presidency and leaders of the Church in the Christmas Devotional. In addition to beautiful music, we will have the opportunity to hear the testimony of the living prophets about our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope that you will take the time to watch with your family and to enjoy the Spirit of Christmas. You can watch the broadcast online at LDS.org or BYUTV.org, at 6 pm MST.
Happy Advent and Merry Christmas!