Ponderings of a Handmaiden: Mary's Example

I have decided to begin posting some things the Lord is showing me in my personal walk with him. I have entitled these posts Ponderings of a Handmaiden.

MARY'S EXAMPLE:

When I choose the title for this blog, I was studying the life of a young women in scripture who choose to trust God's plan for her, even though at the time she could not fully understand it, and was ridiculed and scorned by the people around her. As you may have already surmised, the young woman I am referring to is Mary, the mother of our Saviour.

In Luke 1, we learn a little about what kind of a young woman Mary was.

1. She trusted God.

"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." Luke 1:38

Her trust led to obedience. Because she believed God's plan was best for her, she willing accepted his plan - without waiting until she fully understood - and was obedient to his will for her. As the hymn writer, John Sammis, has put it; ..."Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

2. She magnified God

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47 (Mary's praise of the Lord continues through verse 55)

What does it mean to magnify God? This quote from John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life, really helped me to understand what it means to magnify God.

"Magnify has two distinct meanings. In relation to God, one is worship and one is wickedness. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. Pretending to magnify God like that is wickedness. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With the Hubble Space Telescope, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. Magnifying God like that is worship. We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and beauty and infinite worth that he really is."

3. She pondered

"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

What does it mean to ponder? The Webster's dicitionary definies the word ponder this way; to think or consider quietly, soberly, and deeply. While the shepherds told of all that they had seen and heard from the angels, Mary pondered it. May we also take the time to ponder what the Lord is doing around and through us.

Conclusion:
Oh, how much we can learn from the life of Mary! May you and I learn from her example how to trust God, magnify God, and ponder all that he is teaching us.