More Treasuring

Lk. 2:50-52

"And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.  And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."

When Passover was over, Mary and Jospeh left Jerusalem with their extended family and friends. Believing Jesus to be in their midst, they journied an entire day without discoveirng He was not with them. I can only imagine how they felt. Their child was missing. How could this be? I am sure that their first thought would be that something must be wrong because Jesus would never do something like this. He would never knowingly cause them grief or be irresponsible. But then would come the personal recriminations. What kind of parents were they? How could they lose their child? How could they lose this child?

After three days of searching, they found Him, three days of panic and frustration, of imagining every bad thing that could possible happen. And where was He? Sittting in the temple listening to the teachers and asking questions. Speaking as a parent, I can only imagine the feelings that welled up inside their hearts. First, relief that He was fine, but then irritation. How could Jesus do such a thing? How could He treat His parents like this? What was He thinking? The passage says that they were astonished! Mary expressed their distress to Jesus, but Jesus reply did not seem to make sense. Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house? What did that mean? How could this be their fault, their lack of understanding? Wasn't Joseph his father?

Jesus left with them and once again was submissive to them, but still Mary did not understand. Even though things were not clear, what was her response? Did she set down new rules and better communication strategies? No, she treasured these things in her heart. Why? Perhaps she was beginning to understand the line being drawn between the physical and the spiritual life of Jesus,  between the boy Jesus and the Son of God. How many times have I been in situations that I didn't understand, situations where fears and insecurities were magnified? Yet, how many times have I treasured these situations in my heart because I knew that God had a plan in place and all I had to do was rest in Him. How many times did I trust Jesus and not let my human emotions run out of control?  How many times did I realize that the Father of all houses was in control?

Father,

Teach me to treasure Your inscrutable ways. Increase my faith in Jesus. Help me to desire to be in Your house more than anything that this world has to offer.

In Jesus name,

Amen