It was not in a palace, nor through a priest, but through a teenage girl in a forgotten town.
Nazareth was the kind of place you didn’t brag about. In fact, when Nathanael first heard where Jesus came from, he asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).
Nazareth’s reputation was at best bland and at worst, sketchy. It was insignificant, tarnished, and spiritually unimpressive.
Yet this forgotten village becomes the stage for the opening act of redemption.
Mary was likely no more than thirteen to fifteen years old when the angel Gabriel appeared to her.
A girl still under her parents' roof, pledged to be married. She had no worldly credentials, no fame, no status.
But God saw availability where the world saw insignificance.
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28).
Why was Mary favored? This question divides many Protestants and Catholics.
The Bible reveals little about Mary’s history… And in that lack of detail, her story echoes her predecessors.
Abraham had no claim to fame, but God made him great.
David was a forgotten shepherd boy, but God made him king.
Mary wasn’t chosen because she was favored; she was favored because she was chosen.
Gabriel announces that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit, that the child within her will be called “Son of the Most High,” and that His kingdom will never end (Luke 1:31–33).
Gabriel tells Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v. 35).
The word “overshadow” takes us all the way back to Genesis 1:2, where “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Creation began in chaos, and now a new creation begins in the womb of a virgin.
The same Spirit that brought light out of darkness is now bringing salvation out of obscurity.
This is how God moves.
He doesn’t conform to human expectations. The incarnation didn’t begin in Rome or Jerusalem but in a backwater town through a peasant girl.
The greatest act of divine condescension—the eternal Son taking on flesh—began in the most unlikely body in the most unlikely place.
And Mary simply says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38).
That’s it. A yes. A willingness. A surrender.
Just like Abraham responded to the call. Just like David chose to step out in faith.
This is the pattern of the Kingdom. God does not wait for the extraordinary. He creates it through ordinary people who say, “Here I am.”
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The story of Mary reminds us that divine calling is not about human status. It's about surrender.
God chooses to work through people the world might overlook entirely because His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
He delights in doing the miraculous through those who have nothing but a willing heart.
You don't have to be strong, mature, or recognized. You just have to be willing. Mary was.
So today, maybe the better question isn't "Am I enough?" but "Am I available?"
