![[Painting of The Annunciation]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/The_Annunciation.jpg)
| God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” |
| —Luke 1:26-28 |
I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed excellent health all the days of your life. Health is a very special gift from God. And, because of the sin curse that has fallen upon all of creation because of Adam’s sin, health is not something that we will all enjoy forever.
For most people, there will come a time in their lives when they will become ill and need medical attention. For some, the incident may be short lived. For others, they will suffer for an extended period of time. No matter the length of the illness, it is a fact that eventually we will all die. Our time of excellent health will end with a finality that seems shocking.
In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, an angel appears to a virgin girl named Mary. His opening line is electrified:
“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
This greeting of the angel intended to put Mary at ease for the startling news that would follow. Hearing such words from the mouth of a heavenly being must have calmed Mary’s heart and given her a sense of great peace.
Over the last 22 years, I have had a series of crises relating to my health. I have mentioned these in some of the nearly 1,900 blog posts that I have written in recent years. In several cases, I had to have surgery. Sometimes, the surgery was very serious, including one three years ago when I had to have my right leg amputated below the knee due to a chronic infection in my right foot.
Just before one of the very first recent surgeries that I had back in 1998, I can clearly remember how frightened I was as they wheeled me into the operating room. My doctor and the surgeon that he had summoned to help me had both warned me that the infection they intended to treat might well take my life. I was shaking in fear as the attendants helped me transfer from the gurney to the operating table.
Suddenly, I was overcome by a sense of deep calm. In the depth of my mind I heard these very words that the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary:
“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
At that moment I knew for certain that, whether I lived or died, God was with me and that He would always be with me. In the intervening years and numerous health crises, I have heard this same message in the depth of my mind. I know for certain that, whatever may befall me, the Lord is with me.
As I write these words, in the depths of my heart, I long for these words to become true for you who may be reading what I am writing. I very much hope that you will come to the place where you recognize that God is with you, too. Out of His boundless store of mercy, grace, and love, I pray that God will assure you of His divine presence in your life.
