Treasure and ponder
"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2.19).
I have always wondered, what does Mary ponder here? What, in her woman's heart, does she treasure as a result of this occurrence in Luke with the birth of her child, for whom the angels give glory to God?
I am learning what it means to ponder, to treasure up, to consider some things in my heart, quietly. The time of pondering and treasuring requires a sort of solitude, a sabbatical, a reliance on the Lord perhaps like never before. I'm sure that Mary wanted to tell Joseph and her friend Elizabeth what it was that she pondered. And at the same time, she probably new that, for that time, she still needed to quietly ponder and treasure. She relies on God in a completely vulnerable way. She has to trust the Lord about her child, the flesh knit from her flesh, in a new way--her child is not hers, but the Lord's. How difficult for a new mother to accept fully; she instinctually desires to protect, and love, and provide for her child, but already she realizes that this Son of hers is actually God's. What an avenue of trust.
The depth of a woman's heart, of Mary's heart, is mysterious. Mary must have been experiencing two emotions. One, agony. Agony for a desire to fulfill in her own timing. Two, peace. Peace for a desire to submit to the Lord's timing.
posted by Ash at 1:31 AM
2 Comments:
Ashley, are you hiding something? Just kidding. Honestly, there are no babies coming. But, amen sister! One of my greatest struggles is patience. We always say we should wait on the Lord, take our time, think things through, but how long? And when we do think it through, it's for about an hour before we have to bring it back to half of our friends and get their opinion. What about truly waiting on what the Lord has to say about something instead of growing impatient too fast and seeking "wise counsel." Like you, I trust and value the wisdom of friends, my mom, sisters, etc, but how often do I hide a secret with the Lord that only He and I know?
I think those little secrets are what grow us close to His heart at times. He desires to share intimate things with us and have us ponder and brood over every delicate detail of the secret. That's beautiful...sometimes I wish that I could stop my big mouth from speaking out loud. I admire you.
Thank you, Dulcy. I realized last night that it feels really good to have something that is just between me and the Lord right now. Obviously if it was anything sinful then it is not good to keep in secret. But when it is the Lord teaching us some things--purifying our hearts and changing our attitudes/misconceived ideas--then it is good to ponder and trust Him alone for a while.
Not only can the voices of those closest to me be wrong, but my voice too is often deceiving. It is only the Lord's voice that is consistent and true. Always true.
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