The age-old expression "Mother knows best" comes from the realization that our moms possess much wisdom and insight that is lovingly passed on to their children. Consider then the lessons we can learn from Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Luke 1.
1) God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. There were limitless ways God could have chosen to bring the promised Messiah into the world. Mary was a young, poor woman with no special talents or abilities. Yet, God chose her to give birth to His Son to forgive the sins of mankind (v. 26-37).
2) God understands our limited human perspective. As the angel Gabriel explained to Mary that she was to give birth to the Son of God and that He would rule and reign forever (v. 31-33), she had her doubts (v. 34). Yet, the angel confirmed that nothing is impossible for God (v. 37).
3) Obedience to God requires sacrifice and perseverance. What God asked of Mary brought great difficulty into her life---the scorn of being an unwed mother, near loss of her fiance' and watching her son be rejected and murdered. Yet all of this was part of God's plan to bring about our salvation. Sometimes, we too must suffer hardship and wait patiently for God to finish working His plan---allowing His power to sustain us (v. 35).
4) God finds favor in us based on our trust in Him. God favored Mary based on nothing that she had accomplished (v. 28, 30). In explaining that she was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Mary risked being an outcast and labeled crazy. Instead, her response to God's request was: "I am the Lord's servant...May it be to me as you have said. (v. 38)"
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