At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 

Luke 1: 39-40

When Mary agreed to become the mother of Jesus, she learned that her elderly relative Elizabeth also was expecting a baby.  Her first major action was to walk to Elizabeth’s home in a different town.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary says a walk from Nazareth to the hill country took three to five days, depending on where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. Because bandits frequented the route, Mary may have joined others in a caravan for safety.  It’s hard to imagine her parents allowing her to go otherwise.

Once she was there, something extraordinary happened. God responded to Mary’s act of kindness by letting Elizabeth know that Mary was pregnant with the Messiah.  What conversations these two women must have had as they spent months together! 

Meditating on this, I was struck with the energy of Mary’s act.  Even when I was young, it’s hard to imagine that I would walk for three to five days to go help a relative.  I wondered how Mary did it. 

In meditation, I saw the Mary’s energy and kindness always came from an overflowing of the grace of God in her soul.  Too often, my kind acts come from a near-empty well. No wonder doing good can feel so exhausting to me.

The Lord suggested that I change my process from creating a to-do list and dragging myself along it. Instead, I should spend more time with the Lord in prayer, worship and communication. This will build up my supply of grace so the good that I can do is an overflow rather than a series of drips. Sounds like a plan.