If we grab hold of this truth, we will trust God deeper when life tests our faith with hard circumstances. As I study for my next book, Not Quite as Expected” I recognize in the story of Mary and Joseph as they bring Jesus to the temple, Simeon, a righteous and devout man, prepares Mary for a future deep agony she’d face “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.”
God prepared her for heartbreak she’d suffer concerning this baby boy she was holding. She knew what was promised when the Angel communicated with her. There is much in scripture that tells us she didn’t fully grasp the weight of her baby’s responsibility for the World. We cannot overlook how God prepared her ahead of time for the birth of her baby and also for the reality that pain would come (a sword ) deep anguish through the life she delivered into the world. Understanding this helps us grasp how our Sovereign God loves us.
God’s love and grace also offer us a similar preparation that should bring comfort. We, too, are prepared by the Grace of God for pain to come into our lives. 1 Peter 4:12: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”
It is normal for us to be shocked, surprised, and discombobulated when we face trials God already tells us are coming. From Jesus, James, Peter, Paul and others we are prepared over and over that hard times are coming. They are the “Normal Christian life.”
This magnanimous preparation is for those who are called according to His purpose. They are those who love Him, the same as Mary. And we can trust the forming of His Son’s character is happening. We may not comprehend how important that is for the citizens of The Kingdom of God. To begrudge this reality is normal in our flesh, but that’s what is being put to death.
Much of what we go through isn’t easy. We can still see how “we can count it all joy.” God, who loves us, prepares us for testing to come so we are not knocked off our feet. The joy is that His Grace is sufficient to get us through ALL that will come and “pierce through your (and my) own soul.”
I can see Mary fixing her eyes on her baby at that moment. Maybe she had to be shaken back to attention to make eye contact with anyone else, even Joseph, who may have been guiding her with Jesus in her arms. That’s conjecture, but it’s how I picture the scene. And I’m connected to these words, “fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith…” He’s our focus every day and all the more when we are about to feel the sword pierce our soul.
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