There’s a quiet verse in Luke’s Gospel that has always gripped me. After the shepherds came to Bethlehem, after they told the story of the angels filling the sky, after the wonder and the noise, the Scripture says,
“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
Mary had every reason to be overwhelmed. She was young, far from home, surrounded by animals and strangers, holding a newborn who was also the Savior of the world. But instead of letting the swirl of circumstances carry her away, she treasured what God was doing. She held onto it. She let it sink deep.
That is the posture of a believer who truly walks with God.
We live in a noisy age. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone wants to react fast and move on to the next thing. But Mary teaches us that some of God’s greatest works require quiet treasuring and slow pondering. Not everything God does is meant to be rushed past or turned into a quick headline. Some things are meant to be savored in the heart until their meaning unfolds.
Think of it. Mary had heard the promises of Scripture, she had received the angel’s message, she had felt the child growing within her, and now she was seeing God’s Word become flesh before her eyes. Instead of trying to explain it all or package it into something manageable, she pondered. She gave space for the mystery of God’s work to rest upon her heart.
That’s what we need. When God answers a prayer, when He whispers through His Word, when He shows His mercy in the middle of our mess, we need to pause long enough to treasure it. Too often, we let the miracle pass by because we’re already hurrying to the next worry. But if we would stop, hold it close, and ponder it, faith would grow stronger.
The Bible says,
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
To hide God’s Word is to treasure it, to store it where no thief can steal it. And pondering is more than casual reading. It is letting Scripture roll around in your mind until it shapes the way you see life.
Mary didn’t understand everything that night in Bethlehem. She didn’t yet see the cross or the empty tomb. But she treasured what she did know, and she pondered until God made it clear in His time. That is the way of faith. Holding on to what God has shown, and waiting on Him for what we don’t yet understand.
Here’s the heart of it. Pondering is not striving to figure everything out. It is resting in what God has said. It is grace teaching us to relax in His promises. Mary wasn’t analyzing; she was receiving. She wasn’t trying to make sense of the impossible; she was quietly resting in the God who makes all things possible. Treasuring is not achieving. It is receiving. Faith grows not by our effort but by opening our hands and saying, “Yes, Lord, I believe You.”
This is where so many of us miss it. We believe we need to grapple with the mystery until it becomes clear. But the life of faith is not about control. It’s about trust. When we treasure what God has spoken, even when we don’t understand, we are saying, “It is enough that You have said it.” When we ponder, we let grace soak deep into the soil of our hearts until fruit begins to grow.
So how do we live this out?
First, slow down. When God shows you something, don’t rush on. Write it down. Hold it close. Sit with it until your heart rests in it.
Second, take a verse of Scripture and carry it with you all day, not to gather information but to let grace shape your heart.
Third, share what God is teaching you with someone close to you. Treasuring grows deeper when it is spoken and remembered together.
The truth is simple. When God speaks or moves, don’t just move on. Pause, treasure it, and let it sink deep.
So what about you? What has God spoken into your life that you need to treasure again? What promise from His Word have you let slip from your heart that you need to ponder anew?
If you want a life that stands steady in storms, do what Mary did.
Treasure what God has done.
Ponder what He has said.
Rest in the grace that makes His promises real.
Let His Word go deeper than your feelings, and His promises grow stronger than your fears.
In time, you’ll see that every moment you hid in your heart was a seed of faith that God Himself was watering.
In the Quiet of the Heart
When angels sang and shepherds came,
The world was never quite the same.
Yet in the stable, hushed and still,
A maiden bowed to God’s great will.
She held the Child, God’s promise near,
His tiny breath, His presence clear.
No words could frame the holy part,
She pondered all within her heart.
Not every answer did she see,
Yet grace was there, a mystery.
She did not strive to understand,
But rested in her Father’s hand.
For faith is not a frantic race,
It is the stillness found in grace.
To treasure whispers, soft and true,
And let His Word grow deep in you.
So pause when God speaks light and love,
Receive His mercies from above.
Each seed of truth, though small at start,
Will bloom in time within your heart.