^{Luke 1:38}

³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^a]">[a] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

I think we so casually read about how an angel suddenly appeeared to Mary because we are used to that being the sort of thing that happens in the Bible. From the Old Testament to the New, we see angels mentioned fairly frequently. And if we're not careful, we can come away with the impression that every Israelite in Biblical times had these sorts of encounters regularly. But that's just not the case. The time in between the events where angels are mentioned is quite long. And when they do appear, it's usually to just one or a handful of individuals. My point is that it most definitely took young Mary by surprise when Gabriel appeared to her. And I know that it was even more of a surprise when he told her that she would give birth to God's Son. While this Word was given to her from God by means of an angel, she still had questions. Earlier, in verse 34, she asks how all this will take place since she was a virgin. But as the angel relayed to her more of God's Word, she responds in faith and trust. Likewise, when we come to God's Word, He doesn't tell us to leave all of our questions behind. But He does call us to count on his trustworthiness, even as we wrestle with the questions we bring. I think that's why the angel's response to Mary was so different from Zechariah (Luke 1:5-20). Zechariah asked his question with doubt as the driving force. Mary asked hers with faith in the character of God.

• What does it mean to trust the Bible even while we wrestle with our questions?