Learning how to react to God's plan, the Zechariah and Mary way

I sat for a long time last week thinking about Zechariah and Mary and the two very different responses to the same angel.

Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him, and he asks, "How shall I know this?" He then gives a laundry list of why this is impossible, as if God didn't know him; as if God had made a mistake. (Luke 1:10-20)

When Gabriel was sent to Mary, like Zechariah, she too was greatly troubled. (Luke 1: 26-38)

But not by what she saw, but rather, by what was said. And unlike Zechariah, who had fear come upon him, Mary pondered what sort of greeting this might be. And after listening to the angel, and the plan God had for Mary, she did not give her long list of the obvious reasons why this would all seem impossible, but instead, she said to the angel, "How can this be?"

And I am stuck on these two, because I think we all have a choice in the way we respond to the difficult, seemingly impossible things that God asks of us. We can be like Zechariah, and ask for the proof, or we can be like Mary, and ask for the instructions.

Mary had this perfect way of closing her eyes, and simply listening with her heart. She never questioned why, she never doubted the plan. And it is clear that the only way we will ever be able to join her in saying, "May it be done to me according to your word", is not by reacting to his will by demanding our own, but rather, by pondering His will, and asking for the grace to accomplish it.