I have a confession to make, my friend. I am so tired that I have sat here for quite a while staring at a flashing cursor on this screen unable to even figure out how to begin typing what was on my mind. Do you ever get that way? Do you ever just get so tired that you feel both physically and mentally exhausted? I think that is where I am at just now. I truly think I need a day, or maybe a week of rest! As I sat here trying to think of what I wanted to say, I alternated between staring at the flashing cursor and glancing around the room at some of my nativities which are my favorite Christmas decorations. I stared at them for a moment wondering if this is how poor Mary felt when she finally reached Bethlehem. Was she completely worn out and just wishing for a place to rest her weary body?
I can only imagine how difficult the journey must have been as they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem so near her time of delivery. In fact, according to the Scriptures in Luke chapter two it seems as if they barely made it before she began to go into labor. Can’t you just imagine her urging Joseph to find them somewhere to stay quickly as she felt those pains signaling her time was coming? My heart aches for her as I imagine her weary body entering the beginning pains of her labor, waiting, and hoping there was somewhere for her to go. What was she thinking when she realized her child would be born in a hillside cave likely crowded with animals because travelers had filled the small town of Bethlehem to overflowing? Did she wonder why God did not intervene and send them somewhere nicer?
God didn’t intervene; Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and instead of a beautiful cradle fashioned by Joseph’s loving hands, baby Jesus had a manger for His crib. I am a writer, so I have a very vivid imagination and I find myself wondering what Mary’s thoughts were during all of this. I can imagine a few of my thoughts if I had been in her position but let me share her words with you instead. Actually, I can’t because there are no words recorded from Mary during this time. In fact, the only thing the Bible tells us about Mary’s thoughts during this time is that she “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). Instead of speaking, complaining or even talking, the Bible describes Mary as one who was contemplating and meditating on all that was happening.
Where most of us would probably be more than a little frustrated and doing no small amount of complaining, Mary is silently contemplating all that was occurring that special night. From giving birth in the last place she probably had expected to deliver her child, to a visit from a group of shepherds sent by an angel, she definitely had a lot to ponder. I love the fact that the Bible says she “kept all these things in her heart” in two different sections of Luke chapter two. Mary was storing these thoughts, these memories, these confirmations from God in her heart like a hidden treasure. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I think Mary was storing up these “God encounters” like treasure in her heart. Her treasure was of the heavenly nature.
I think Mary stored up all the moments that she knew were a “God thing” and kept them in her heart where she carefully pulled them out and meditated over them when she needed to remember them. Each step along the way, from the angelic announcement, the shepherds visit, the prophetic announcements from Simeon and Anna, and the first time she held the Son of God in her arms to the last time she held Him in her arms, I believe Mary was storing these treasured moments in her heart. Nearly every nativity I have portrays Mary as a smiling mother hovering lovingly over her baby in the manger but somehow, I wonder if the scene should show a tired, exhausted young woman with eyes closed lying near her son quietly pondering the events in her heart.
I think of her lying there on the bed Joseph had put together from their blankets and some hay and I must confess, I am challenged by her example. I look at her and I must ask myself “what am I storing up in my heart?” What am I pondering in my heart? I’m pretty sure that night that we sing about didn’t feel “silent” or “holy” as she lay there surrounded by the sounds and smells of animals, but Mary wasn’t complaining or crying at her bad luck. Mary was storing it all up as a treasure in her heart. Somehow amid the chaos of birthing a child in a stable and an unexpected visit by a group of shepherds, Mary was apparently given “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:7). Mary had obediently surrendered to God’s will for her life and God was there with her.
Mary had peace during a night that was probably so far from anything she had imagined as she had envisioned giving birth to the Son of God. Things didn’t go the way she had planned but they went the way God had planned them long before Mary herself was ever even born. You know; life has a way of turning out like that! Things seldom go as we have planned but that doesn’t mean that they are not going according to God’s plans. I wonder how often our plans are completely different from what He has planned? Maybe we should all take a cue from Mary and learn to “ponder things in our hearts” when things go far differently than we had hoped they would. Maybe we can learn to look for God in the midst of our difficulties and see what He might be planning to do during the change in plans.
I find that I have been challenged to learn to do a little more “pondering” and a lot less “pouting” when things go differently than I had hoped they would. I pray that God would help me to begin to look for Him during the changes, challenges, and difficulties I face. I pray that He will teach me to carefully consider how He might be working through each one of these moments. I hope that I can learn to look for the lesson instead of fussing and complaining when things don’t go the way I had hoped because the truth is that many times when things don’t go the way I had hoped, they actually turn out better than what I had been planning or imagining. I have found that God in His wisdom, often interrupts my plans with better plans, even if they don’t always feel like it at the time!
As I come to the end of my story today, I find that while I am still quite tired, I am also encouraged as I have realized that God might lead me to the stable, but He will meet me there and strengthen and encourage me. He may send me places I had not planned to go but He will go with me. God may interrupt my plans, but it is only because He has better plans for me. And honestly, I’d rather be in His will than have my own way any day! I leave you today with these tidings of comfort and joy. No matter where God leads you, He will never send you there without going there with you. If He interrupts your plans, it’s because He has better plans for you. Why not learn to do like Mary and treasure these moments up like treasure in your heart so that someday you can look back and see Him in it all?
Scriptures to ponder: Jeremiah 29:11; Deut. 31:8; Proverbs 4:23; Philippians 2:14-16; Proverbs 3:5-6
Katrina Douglas
