It is December 3rd. It’s 2:00 a.m. The house is quiet, but your mind is running a marathon. You are lying in bed, the blue light of your phone illuminating the ceiling as you scroll through a virtual shopping cart, agonizing over whether that toy will arrive in time or if you missed the sale on the winter coats.

Your heart is racing, not with excitement, but with a low-grade panic about budgets, schedules, and the sheer weight of expectation that this season brings.

We plan our lives down to the minute, especially during the holidays. We have the calendar color-coded, the menu set, and the budget balanced (mostly). We operate under the illusion that we are in control.

But God has a habit of disrupting our control.

Turn your attention to a teenager in Nazareth. Mary wasn’t scrolling through a phone, but she was likely planning a wedding. She was betrothed to Joseph, mapping out a humble, quiet life. She had her future neatly folded and tucked away in her mind.

And then, God broke in.

Luke 1:26-28 sets the stage: “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 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.”

Talk about a total interruption. Gabriel didn’t text ahead. He dropped into her reality with a message that would shatter her quiet plans and replace them with a cosmic purpose.

We often resent interruptions. We see them as obstacles to our goals. But if we look at Luke 1, we see that divine interruptions are often the delivery system for God’s greatest grace.

The Nature of Favor: Grace Slamming the Door

When Gabriel appears, Mary is “troubled at his saying” (verse 29). That is a mild way of putting it. She was terrified. This is the natural human reaction when the supernatural invades the natural.

But look at the reassurance in Luke 1:30: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”

We need to pause on that word “favour.”

In the Greek, it is the root word for grace. Mary didn’t earn this visit. She hadn’t checked enough boxes on a spiritual to-do list to unlock the “Gabriel Achievement.” This was God’s sovereign, unmerited grace slamming into her life.

This is critical for us to understand, especially when we feel overwhelmed. We tend to think God’s presence depends on our performance. We think, “If I get the house clean, get the kids to behave, and volunteer at the soup kitchen, then God will show up.”

But the Gospel tells us the opposite. God shows up in the mess. He interrupts the mundane.

The angel’s command to “Fear not” cuts through the noise of life. It cuts through the anxiety of your 2:00 a.m. scrolling. It cuts through the drama of extended family dynamics—the modern-day equivalent of “Aunt Karen” blowing up your phone about the turkey or the seating arrangements.

When God interrupts your stress with His presence, the command is always the same: Fear not. Why?

Because fear and faith cannot occupy the throne of your heart at the same time. Remember, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 2:7).

God’s favor isn’t a reward for your perfection; it is the guarantee of His presence in your imperfection.

The Announcement and the Impossible Question

Gabriel drops the bombshell in verses 31-33: She will conceive, bring forth a son, call Him Jesus, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

Mary, being a logical human being, asks the obvious question in Luke 1:34: “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”

This isn’t a question of doubt; it’s a question of biology. Mary knows how babies are made, and she knows she hasn’t done the one thing required to make one. She is looking at a physical impossibility.

Gabriel’s answer is the pivot point of history: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee” (verse 35). And then, the clincher in verse 37: “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

This is where the rubber meets the road for us. We all have “How shall this be?” moments.

• “How shall I get out of this financial debt?”
• “How shall my marriage survive?”
• “How shall my wayward child ever return to the Lord?”

From our limited perspective, these situations look like virgin births—physically impossible. We look at the data, the bank accounts, and the history, and we say, “There is no way.”

But the Advent narrative reminds us that God is not bound by physics, economics, or human psychology. He specializes in flipping the impossible. The Virgin Birth is the ultimate evidence that God can bypass the natural laws to fulfill His spiritual laws.

If He can create life in a virgin womb, He can handle your mortgage. If He can place the King of Kings in a manger, He can handle your prodigal son. Your mess isn’t too big for the “power of the Highest.”

Mary’s Response: The Obedience of the “Yes”

How do you respond when God asks you to do something that makes no sense?

Contrast Mary’s response with Zechariah’s earlier in the chapter. When Zechariah was told his elderly wife would conceive, he asked, “Whereby shall I know this?”

He wanted proof. He looked at his own body and doubted God’s power. The result? Silence. He was struck dumb because he didn’t believe the Word.

Mary asks, “How?” but she doesn’t ask for proof. She accepts the Word. Look at Luke 1:38, one of the most powerful verses on discipleship in the entire Bible:

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”

“Be it unto me.”

This is the prayer of total surrender. Mary wasn’t just agreeing to a pregnancy; she was agreeing to a social scandal. She was agreeing to the risk of losing Joseph. She was agreeing to a life that would eventually lead to a “sword piercing her own soul”, which would happen at the foot of a cross.

She didn’t negotiate. She didn’t say, “Let me check my calendar” or “Can we wait until after the wedding?” She said “yes” immediately.

This is where we often fail. We want God’s blessing, but we want it on our terms. We want the “peace on earth,” but we don’t want the disruption of our plans. We want to serve God, but only when it’s convenient.

But serving faithfully means living out God’s purpose even when it disrupts your comfort. It means saying “yes” to God amid the chaos.

Practical Application:

What is God asking you to say “yes” to this December?

Maybe He is interrupting your plan to buy extravagant gifts, prompting you instead to simplify and give to missions.

Maybe He is interrupting your schedule, prompting you to visit a lonely neighbor instead of attending another party.

Maybe He is interrupting your grudge, telling you to forgive that family member before you gather for the meal.

Mary’s “yes” changed history. Your “yes” might not change the world, but it will change your world. It creates space for Jesus to enter.

Why Now? The Timing of the Interruption

Why does God often wait until we are at our busiest or our lowest to break in? Why the interruption?

Because interruptions strip away our self-reliance. When our plans are shattered, we are forced to look for a foundation that cannot be shaken.

We go back to the lesson of Psalm 4:7-8: “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.”

Mary found peace, not because her circumstances got easier—in fact, they got infinitely more complicated—but because she trusted the Character of the Interrupter.

The Advent season is designed to be a time of preparation, but the world has turned it into a time of perspiration. We sweat the small stuff. But God interrupts us to remind us of the big stuff.

If we view these interruptions as annoyances, we will meet them with anger. But if we view them as God’s “favor”—His grace redirecting us toward His will—we can find rest.

When the plan falls apart, that is God making room. When the money gets tight, that is God inviting you to trust His provision. When the diagnosis comes, that is God asking, “Will you let My power overshadow you?”

Interruptions lead to rest, if they are trusted.

Let Mary’s “Yes” Be Ours

We began with the image of scrolling a phone at 2:00 a.m., paralyzed by the stress of the season.

The antidote to that stress is not better time management. It is not a bigger budget. The antidote is the posture of Mary. It is the surrender of the “Be it unto me.”

Here is our challenge for the week:

Pray a dangerous prayer. Ask God to interrupt us.

Say this: “Lord, I have my plans for this week. I have my list. But I give you permission to interrupt me. If there is a divine appointment You have for me, break in. If there is a sin I am holding onto, expose it. If there is a different way you want me to walk, show me. Be it unto me according to Thy Word.”

When we hand the pen over to the Author, we don’t have to worry about how the chapter ends. we can lie down in peace and sleep, knowing that the God who orchestrates the impossible is watching over us.

Let’s let Mary’s “yes” be ours. The peace we are desperate for starts right there.