She rejoiced.

Last week I started reading Beth Moore's Jesus: 90 Days with the One & Only.  I love it so far.  It starts off before Jesus is even born...we see Gabriel come to Mary, Mary's visit to Elizabeth, & Mary's Magnificat.  That's where I am so far.

Tonight's that I was reading (day 4, if you have the book), talks a lot about Mary's rejoicing.  For us, it seems that we rejoice in God's faithfulness once we see how He's come through for us.  For Mary, she rejoiced even before then. 

She was told that she's going to have a baby.  Not a part of her plan at this time.  She's told that that baby will save the world.  Pretty sure that thought had never crossed her mind.  She's facing ridicule & judgment & possible divorce.  Probably not something she expected to deal with before she was even technically married.  And she's rejoicing...not in the fact that God has come through, but in the faith that He will.  She knows the character of God & has seen nothing but His faithfulness play out in her life.

Mary faced a lot of unknowns at this point.  But think about what she did know.  She knew her Scripture.  She gives proof of this in her song (Luke 1:46-55) when she quotes 12 different Old Testament passages just like it's second nature.  That being said, she knew that Jesus would have to die...not just for the world, but for her.  She may have known that He would be crucified.  Several places in the Old Testament mention that, but it's probably easier for us to see that they were referring to Jesus since it's now already happened.  Either way, she knew that this was no easy road that stretched out in front of her.  And yet, she rejoiced, through both the details that she didn't know, & the hard truths that she did.