God is with you

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

Numbers 21:1-22:20
Luke 1:26-56
Psalm 57:1-11
Proverbs 11:9-11 

The angel Gabriel meets with Mary and says, "Greetings, highly favored one. The Lord is with you." And this troubles Mary because it's an unusual greeting and she doesn't know exactly what he means. Besides being a big scary angel.

But if you think about what he said, it's pretty profound. I mean, it's amazing to be told that you're highly favored by God. But then think about the next sentence. "The Lord is with you." He means this in the same way that God is with us, of course. But to Mary, he also meant that God himself was going to come live in her womb for nine months. That's some breathtaking news.

God is with you, too. But many of us misunderstand what that means. Kind of like we misunderstand "I an do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It doesn't mean you're going to win every game you play and excel at every business you try and make perfect grades on every test you take. "God is with you" doesn't mean He's on your side and you'll always win. It means He is walking alongside you and will comfort you, teach you, and help you to become a saint. Things WILL go wrong in your life. I promise. Jesus said, "In this world, you will have troubles." But God is with you, and He won't let you down or drop you. He will take care of you and bring you to Himself. That's what matters.

God, thanks for being with us - and teaching us what that means.