Hidden Treasures

Hidden Treasures are the stuff of pirates and little children, but the Lord is also a fan of Hidden Treasures. And He is ready to lead us to them.

** It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. ** Proverbs 25:2

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you are all well and able to enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

Reading this Proverb, I thought of the many things that the Lord partially conceals from us. Like the Christmas story itself. It is full of mysteries and miracles that leave us asking what else happened in those times and how did the Lord reveal Himself to Mary and her family?

Mary, the mother of our Savior, faced many interesting moments and encounters in her young life. Moments that must have left her wondering, “what does this mean?” “What is God saying and doing through me?” “How will this all end?”

Starting with: **The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee**

Being personally visited by and seeing and speaking to an angel must have been quite a moment of surprise and awe. Gabriel told her things that she surely never expected to hear. Not only that she would have a child as a virgin, but also, when he said to her that her Son would be great, that He would inherit David’s throne and that his kingdom would have no end.

All of this must have left her with a lot to think about. Especially because she never saw Jesus on a throne. She never saw His kingdom. What she did see was quite the opposite: a cruel cross.

So much was hidden from Mary, even though she was clearly chosen as the Father’s vessel for an important task. So little did she understand. She gave birth to Christ, raised Him, saw Him perform miracles and watched Him die on that cross. No throne, no kingdom.

What was God doing?

All of us have asked ourselves these same questions, possibly many times during our lives.

What is God doing? What is He trying to say? What does He want me to do? Where is the good in this?

** It is the glory of God to conceal a thing*

**But the honor of kings is to search out a matter. **

I imagine Mary spent the remainder of her life thinking about all of these questions. She probably wondered what happened to the promises for her Son. I would guess that Mary became more attentive to the teachings in the temple. She may have had some long interesting conversations with Joseph in an attempt to understand more about the life and responsibility she bore. We know that she followed Jesus and watched and listened to what the Father revealed through Him, seeking and searching for the Hidden Treasures in the life of her son. She watched, she listened and she tried to understand.

Mary was a treasure seeker. She received whatever the Lord gave her and she meditated, listened and learned all she could to help her understand who God is and what He wanted from her.

Over the next few posts, we will be looking at more of the Hidden Treasures the Lord has for us that will take us beyond the Christmas Story. My hope is that we will all learn and deepen our understanding of these Hidden Treasures and how we can prosper from them and help others to, as well.

Enjoy these days of a slower pace and quieter hearts and keep an eye out for the treasures the Lord is revealing to you. I hope you will share them with us here @ richinmercy.net.