In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph.

Nazareth was not a place you wanted to be from. It was a small town on the way to somewhere else. Roman soldiers were stationed there, and with them came all the false gods of the Roman Empire. The culture was pagan. The environment was spiritually hostile.

When Nathanael heard that Jesus was from Nazareth, he asked the question everyone was thinking: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

This is where Mary lived. This is where she was trying to follow God.

Here's what I need you to know: Mary was living a godly life in a godless place. And it was hard. But she was making it.

So many of you are living in your own version of Nazareth right now. You work in environments where faith is mocked. You live in neighborhoods where no one talks about God. Your family gatherings are filled with people who think your beliefs are foolish. Every day feels like you're swimming upstream.

Can I just say that God sees you? He sees the effort it takes. He sees the pressure you face. He sees how lonely it can feel to stand for truth when everyone around you is standing for something else.

Mary didn't have a perfect environment to nurture her faith. She didn't have a community of believers supporting her at every turn. She had Nazareth. And somehow, in the middle of that spiritually hostile setting, she found favor with God.

That tells us something incredible about God's grace. He doesn't require perfect conditions to do perfect work. He can reach you wherever you are. He can grow you wherever you're planted.

Think about it. God chose a young girl from a forgotten town to carry the Savior of the world. He didn't choose someone from Jerusalem, the center of religious activity. He chose Nazareth. The place everyone dismissed.

Maybe you've felt dismissed too. Maybe you've thought that your location, your job, your family situation, or your circumstances have limited what God can do in your life. Mary's story says otherwise.

Your godless setting does not limit God's access to you. Just like He sent Gabriel to Nazareth, He can send His presence and power to wherever you are right now.

Tomorrow we'll look at the promise that holds everything together. No matter what your family looks like, He can make it whole.

What makes it hardest to live out your faith in your current environment, and what would it look like to keep making it anyway?

Identify one person in your "Nazareth" who needs to see the love of Christ through your life this week. Pray for an opportunity to show them grace.