Treasure Chest
POSTED AT 06:04 PM in Jus' wondering

bungi

...But Mary kept all these things and pondered in her heart…

 

A series of events happened in Mary's life before and after the Saviour was born. Strange happenings. Ordinary yet so extraordinary. A baby was conceived in her womb - ordinary yet extraordinary. The baby was born - ordinary yet extraordinary. The baby has to be born in a place, right? And it was in a stable - ordinary yet not so ordinary. People - ordinary, everyday shepherd folk - heard about the baby. Hearing about the birth of a baby is ordinary. But hearing it straight out of the angle's mouth… Hmm.. I would call that extraordinary. These guys picked themselves and went. And guess what! They found it just as they had been told! Of course, it has to be. Why, that is mighty ordinary!! Or is it?

 

Everybody who heard about these things from the shepherds marvelled at what they heard about. Who wouldn't? Anyways, the point here is, Mary kept all these things and pondered in her heart…

This statement always fascinated me. Each time I read it, I would wonder what Mary thought about all these things. What came out of her pondering? Did she understand the full implication of the whole thing? His birth, the prophecies she heard about Him from Simeon and Anna's mouths, finding Him in the temple with the learned guys - asking questions and saying things… what did she think when she saw Him grow up? Did she know what God meant by the word 'Saviour' or 'Redeemer'? Were her and God's definition one and the same? Or did God blow up her imagination? Or did she simply wait for God's plan to unfold? What did she understand when Simeon told her that a sword will pierce her own soul? Did she, like every other Jew, believed that Jesus was only going to save them from the Roman rule? Or did she get the bigger picture? Did she know why Jesus had to die? And what God was going to bring out of that?

 

I don't know. But I do get a glimpse of my own heart. Do I understand what God meant when He gave me all those promises? Do I understand that plan He has been working out from when I was a little child? Do I know where all this is leading me? Do I know the full implication of being redeemed, of being saved?

 

I tried opening the treasure chest and examining each memory I have stored in there. A little girl watching a movie on crucifixion, with tears streaming down her eyes… The same little girl, a few years later, singing a song to the Lord. Tears come to her eyes whenever she sings that particular song. A few years later, she has felt this release and deep cleaning of her heart. She has seen miracle happen in her life - both the quiet, hidden ones and the loud and flamboyant ones.. And she looks back and understands now, that the Lord has been with her through out and that He has been leading her.

Now, in the midst of confusions and weaknesses and failings and struggles and hopes and dreams, does that little girl still dare to keep her faith?

Reading: In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado
Listening to: The rain falling and the wind blowing...