WRING IT OUT

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

After thoroughly washing their clothes, the old timers would wring as much water out of them as possible so they would dry quickly.  There is a lesson there: growing in character and maturity calls for more than just "letting life happen."  No, it calls for "wringing the wisdom" out of each experience by asking, "What is to be learned here?  How could it have been done differently?"  Great chess players win because they think several moves ahead.  Wisdom asks, "Where does this lead?  What are the possible unintended consequences?"  Wise people realize that what they do today will affect tomorrow.  They are aware that most things are interconnected.  Wisdom comes from figuring out where things are going.  Talk to people whose lives are lived purely on the surface and ask, "Have you thought about...?"  No, they have not.  "Well, what do you think this will do to...?"  They have no idea.  "Have you ever asked yourself what God...?"  Never thought of that.

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  This is a picture of someone who takes the time to wring out events and tests them for insight and understanding.  Sooner or later Mary may have something to say, but when she says it her words will have substance.  In days to come her family will have to flee from Herod's thugs and spend years living in exile in Egypt.  All of this will demand courage, depth of spirit, and trust in the purposes of God.  And that is what comes to a person like Mary, who takes time to "wring" the wisdom out of the event.