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Jehovah chose the young woman Mary
for a difficult assignment.
It was a unique assignment,
one that required great faith.
It was to care for and raise
the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.
What an amazing privilege that was!
And yet, it required strong faith
on the part of Mary
not only because this was
a very serious responsibility
that would involve quite a number of years
but because initially Mary,
before accepting this assignment,
had some concerns, no doubt.
One of them would have been the concern
with regard to the reaction of her friends,
neighbors, relatives and, yes, of course,
her fiancé, Joseph.
After all, the angel didn’t say to her:
“Don’t worry.
“I’ll go and inform this
to all the ones involved
so that they don’t get upset.”
So it was a very difficult
and overwhelming assignment for Mary.
Can you imagine
how she approached this assignment?
Well, to help us do that,
let’s watch this short video.
I was engaged to marry Joseph.
I thought we would have
a simple and quiet life.
And then, suddenly, everything changed.
I know that God sometimes asks us
to do what is difficult.
But this seemed impossible,
beyond anything we could handle.
But I knew I was safe in Jehovah’s hands.
If we remained loyal to Him
and did our best
to care for his precious Son,
he would always be loyal to us
and give us what we needed.
Yes, when we think of Mary’s situation,
all that she was interested in was having
a quiet, simple life.
Then suddenly everything changed for her,
and it may have seemed impossible for her
to be able to accept that assignment.
And yet, what was her reaction?
Well, please take your Bibles,
and turn with me
to the first chapter of Luke and verse 38
—Luke 1:38.
There we see Mary’s reaction: “Look!
“Jehovah’s slave girl!
May it happen to me
according to your declaration.”
Yes, in full faith and with humility,
she accepted this difficult assignment.
She knew that Jehovah would be with her
and that he would help her.
But what was it that gave Mary
such a strong faith?
Well, we get a clue if we look down
in the same chapter but at verse 46.
So that’s Luke 1:46.
And we’re not going to read the verse
but the study note associated with the verse.
Notice it says: “Mary’s words of praise
“that follow in verses 46-55
“contain well over 20 references to
“or allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures . . .
“Mary’s words give evidence
of her spirituality
“and her knowledge of the Scriptures.
“They show her appreciative attitude.
“Her words also reveal
the depth of her faith,
“as she spoke of Jehovah as abasing
the haughty and powerful
and as helping the lowly and poor
who seek to serve him.”
Yes, Mary’s faith
was based on her knowledge of God’s Word,
of the Holy Scriptures that she had.
But it seems that she
didn’t have personal copies
of these writings.
Rather, she must have memorized
what she heard being read at the synagogue.
Isn’t that amazing?
So Mary’s heart was full
of all of these expressions
from the Hebrew Scriptures
—so much so that when
she spontaneously praised Jehovah,
all these expressions came out
because she had treasured them in her heart.
So, yes, Mary had strong faith
that was based on the Holy Writings,
and that is what made her qualified
for this assignment.
Well, what about us?
How can we imitate this strong faith of Mary?
As we look at this dramatization,
notice that although
our assignments may be different,
we likewise need to have
that same strong faith.
When they first told me,
I thought it must have been a mistake.
I mean, me
—oversee a department
at an international convention?
I felt like it was just too much to handle,
but I remembered that I thought
the same thing years ago
when I was asked to serve
on a Disaster Relief Committee
and when I served
on the Hospital Liaison Committee.
Actually, I’ve always felt that way
when I’ve received
an assignment from Jehovah.
But what I’ve learned is
that he’s always ready to help.
So when Jehovah asks me
to do something that seems difficult,
I just remind myself
to pray,
stay loyal,
and have faith
that he’ll give me what I need.
Did you feel sorry for that young brother?
Perhaps we can really understand
his expressions,
‘When they told me of the assignment,
I thought it was a mistake.’
No doubt some of us have felt
the same way at times too.
But what helped this young brother?
Well, he remembered how Jehovah
had helped him
in similar situations in the past.
Do you remember how he
thought back to the time
when he was with the Disaster Committee?
And there he was, standing as a young man,
and all these other men
were looking to him for some direction.
That was very overwhelming.
And then what about when he was
to make the presentation
as an HLC member?
Remember him sitting there
in the corridor by himself,
and then this young woman
ushers him into the room.
She didn’t look very friendly at all,
did she?
And certainly the medical staff
didn’t look very friendly.
So assignments like that can be overwhelming.
But what did the young brother say?
He said that the things
that helped him were prayer,
staying loyal, and having faith.
Yes, like Mary,
we likewise can have this strong faith
that pleases Jehovah.
We need to display humility
and have absolute confidence in Jehovah,
a type of confidence that’s expressed
in the book of Psalms.
Please turn with me
to Psalm 56:3, 4
—Psalm 56:3, 4.
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
“In God
—whose word I praise—
“In God I put my trust; I am not afraid.
What can mere man do to me?”
Yes, just like the psalmist
and just like Mary,
we can have full confidence in Jehovah.
Yes, let us demonstrate this strong faith
when we are faced with difficult assignments,
trusting in Jehovah,
knowing that he will bless us
the same as he blessed Mary.
The next part in our symposium
will be handled by Brother Leonard Myers,
who’s a helper to the Writing Committee.
He’ll discuss the theme
“Imitate Women of Strong Faith!
—The Phoenician Woman.”

Geoffrey W. Jackson: Imitate Women of Strong Faith!—Mary the Mother of Jesus