Mary

They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in a manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary was treasuring all these things in her heart and meditating on them.

Luke 2:16-19 HCSB

How this passage resonates with me today. The shepherds and Mary were told what would happen, angels visited them and foretold. And when it came to pass, their reactions are so touching. The shepherds ran to see the baby. then, they went out and announced the arrival of the child. Imagine with me their conversations as word spread. The reaction of the public tells us. “All who heard it were amazed..”

Mary, on the other hand, began to thread a tapestry that she would add to her son’s whole life. She began to treasure each memory. She knew, after her time with Simeon, that, “Indeed this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed — and a sword will pierce your own soul — that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35 HCSB

Vines Dictionary of New Testament Words helps us understand the word, meditating. “to throw together, confer,” etc., has the meaning “to ponder,” i.e., “to put one thing with another in considering circumstances,” in Luk 2:19.

I believe we are called to do the same with the gift of our lives. Listen to these words from Hebrews:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for^{. 3} By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3 NIV

Mary had the knowledge, but she knew to treasure and remember. These memories, these truths would carry her as she watched his life unfold. She could not see when Jesus was little how it would all look.

Before I deify Mary, suffice to say, there is a lesson for me here. The good, the hard, whatever life throws at me, I can thread the red thread of Jesus through all of my experiences so far. “What is seen was not made out of what is visible.”

So i have confidence today. This pain, it’s not my plan, but in the background of me typing, is my kiddo singing and making lunch. i wasn’t sure we would ever get here. Yet, here is my child singing and dancing around the kitchen. So, I keep threading and pondering and remembering God’s faithfulness before and I am confident, I am assured God is in it all.