And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord . . . (Luke 1:46)
Mary just couldn’t believe it. God had chosen her be the vessel whereby the Messiah would come into the world. Gabriel had given the announcement to her about her miraculous conception. Then she gets the news that her relative Elizabeth had conceived a son in her old age. So much happening at once. It was exciting enough to have been engaged to Joseph but now all this!
Mary just had to see Elizabeth before she had her baby (John the Baptist) and before she herself got along in her pregnancy. Mary went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah, found the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. Then something remarkable happened. The baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, she was filled with the Spirit, and spoke out prophecy and blessings to Mary. Mary responded by magnifying God for choosing her to bear the Christ child.
To magnify means to make something big. And to magnify God means to declare His greatness. God is already big, it’s just our conception of Him can be so small sometimes. Our problems overwhelm us and we seem to magnify the difficulties instead of God. But if we would magnify God, then our problems would be put in their proper perspective.
When the early church was being persecuted they knew how to magnify God. It says in Acts 4:24, So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them . . . See how they magnified the Lord by talking about His power in creation?
Did you know that Scripture says we are to magnify the Lord continually? Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" (Psa 40:16)
The next time you’re down and your problems loom so large over you, try magnifying the Lord. Your problems will shrink from a mountain to a molehill. Our God is awesome and His power is available at all times!
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. (Psa 34:3)
Louie