Jesus, they are thirsty

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Luke 2:19 “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” The reference is to the shepherds coming to where Jesus had been born and telling of the story of how they had come to be there. That scripture has just always given me the warm fuzzies. As a mother, I know exactly what she must have felt. She kept all these things, or treasured all these words as another translation says, and pondered them in her heart.  As mothers, we often treasure the things that others say about our children and ponder them in our heart.  As a brand new mother, Mary would have especially treasured those words about her precious baby.

In the book that I am reading now, the author talks about the story of the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle by turning water into wine. She describes the story where Mary goes to Jesus to tell him that the wine has run out and initially he dismisses the need. But instead of going away, she turns to the servant and says “Do whatever he tells you.” She is respectful. She doesn’t badger. But she is persistent. The people are thirsty. She will not remain silent about the need that she sees. And Jesus hears her. And he meets that need.

I’ve thought a lot about the difference between the teenager new mother Mary and the more experienced Mary of a 30 year old Jesus. About her growth in confidence.  About her growth in relationship to Jesus. I think that, as women, we experience that growth in confidence in ourselves and in our willingness to speak up and speak out. I think as Christians we experience that same type of growth in our relationship to Jesus.

When we are young girls and young women, we are inclined to listen to the directions of our parents or our elders, in determining what we think or how we act. As we grow older and we experience life on our own , we learn to form our own opinions and thoughts on the things of life. When we see that things aren’t the way they should be, we become less likely to stay quiet and more willing to speak up.

When we first meet Jesus, whether we are 8 or 80, we treasure and we ponder the idea of Jesus, and all we learn of him, in our heart. Our faith is like the newborn that Mary held in her arms 2000 years ago. But as we grow in our faith, we grow stronger in our walk and bolder in our questioning. When we see needs that we don’t think are being met, we name them. And we take the steps that we can that are within our power to meet them and turn to Jesus for the things that we can’t. We say to Jesus, the people are thirsty. The people are hungry, Jesus. The people are hurting. And when we do our part to meet those needs, and we refuse to remain silent about the needs that are there, Jesus hears us. And he meets with us to meet those needs. It’s not always in our timing. Or in the way that we would choose. But he meets us as we meet the needs of others.

I pray that as I continue to grow in years, that I also continue to grow in wisdom and boldness. That as I continue to grow in faith, I continue to grow in questioning. That I may always be willing to say, Jesus, they are thirsty. And that I will always be open and able to meet those needs within the limits of my power, and that Jesus will always meet me in that need, to take the steps that I cannot.