So often I am weighed down by thoughts, worries, ordinary things. Money. Grocery shopping. Homework. Housework. Jobs. School. Those are the things that fill my mind the most.
Sometime, just for a while, I want to be completely filled with thoughts of God, of his acts in history and in my life, of the future he has in store. I know, I could just spend time in meditation, contemplation. I've been out of my habit of regular Bible reading for a while now. All those earthly things I listed have crowded that out of my schedule. That needs to change, and I know it.
But I wonder, what Mary and Joseph experienced on that night that Jesus was born. Did any earthly cares fill their minds? Joseph's, perhaps, unless that's just my opinion of men. He was probably thinking angry thoughts directed toward a variety of innkeepers, worry about his wife having a baby in a barn, of all places, and, I hope, wonder at the thought that the baby she was bearing was the Son of God.
And maybe he wasn't. Maybe all his thoughts had to do with the extraordinary, world-changing event that was taking place before his very eyes.
As a woman, I can almost guarantee that Mary wasn't distracted by much of anything, except her pain. I have yet to give birth, but as far as I've been told it's not a comfortable experience. I wonder if the fact that Mary was giving birth to God made any difference in that. Probably not: Jesus is just as much human as he is God. But holding that baby in her arms, when it was all over...the only thoughts in my head would be those of awe, wonder, delight, and joy. Not only was she a mother, holding her firstborn in her arms, but she had just given birth to the Savior of the world.
I don't think that the full meaning of that would have occurred to her all at once. Not on that night. What was to come was probably not what Mary would have ever imagined.
But for that one night...that precious, holy night...she held her baby in her arms and rejoiced, her thoughts only those of God.
May I be as Mary.
great post... i too have been convicted lately about the earthly things that fill my mind... some important and some not-so-much... but i continue to be challenged by the still small voice in my head, "are you trusting me, julia??" thanks for this encouragement today! oh, and ps, i love amy grant's breath of heaven song, one of my favorites for sure.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, Julia. I'm encouraged that you were encouraged. God is good. :)
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