by Desiree Bustamante

Reaping the benefits of pondering our lives.

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Has God ever revealed anything to you through His word or another person that surprised or mystified you? Perhaps you felt you couldn’t share it with anyone, or you didn’t understand the whole significance behind what was revealed, so you kept quiet and concealed it in your heart.

“but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”
Luke 2:19 New Living Translation

Mary heard countless insights about her child that were probably confusing and perplexing. It undoubtedly took some time adapting to the fact that she was to be the mother of the promised Savior. Once Jesus was born, the shepherds told her that angels visited them with the good news of her baby. Simeon, during the dedication of Jesus in the temple, said He would cause many in Israel to fall, and Mary’s soul would also be pierced by a sword.

As these and other events occurred, Mary might have hidden them in her heart, pondering on them often and contemplating how it would all come about to fulfill the past promises given to Israel. But her faith and trust in God carried her through all the waiting and the unknown. Even as she stood weeping by her son’s cross while he was dying, did words spoken by others about Jesus as Israel’s Savior begin to make sense? Was her joy at discovering her son was alive even more powerful when the Holy Spirit unfolded God’s perfect plan?

During Advent, when you reflect upon how God has woven His grace through your life and kept His promises to you, use all these experiences to cultivate joy and hope. He gives peace that the world can’t understand, even through heartaches and sorrows, while you are waiting for everything that you keep in your heart to be revealed. Have faith that God’s plans are being fulfilled, just as Mary believed it and they were revealed in time to her.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado