After getting the order straight and understanding (as I said last week) that we are bond-slaves of our God, Mary acknowledges the good God has done for her. Note that the order IS important. If we reverse it, we will wind up thinking that God has an obligation to us. When we reverse it we tend to determine good for ourselves, but here Mary reminds herself that God has done great things for her.
Note that these things are things that God "has done." She is not primarily referring to what she is now experiencing, she instead looks back to the history of Israel and makes herself a part of all that God is doing. She recognizes that she has a part in the much larger plan of God and as such, God has been faithful to all those before her and will continue to be faithful to her. This is a great reminder especially when we are faced with difficult times.
James 1 reminds us that we are to count it all joy when we face trials. And, while I hope that no one is having trials at Christmastime, I know that many people are. Reality is that people face difficulty every day. And sometimes we need to say with Mary that God has done great things for me because we need to remind ourselves that God has our best interest in mind.
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28, NASB)
We can only believe this when we believe that God has done great things for us in the past. God has been faithful and will continue to be faithful because that is a part of the marvelous character of our God. So, if you face difficulty, trust. If you face hardship, hold on. If you face pain, persevere. God will see you through it because He has seen you through everything up to this point. The Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His name.
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