The Fly on the Wall

            “I would like to have been a fly on the wall during that time.” We usually say that when we would just love to know what was being said in a certain closed door meeting in which we were not invited. I was working for American Telephone and Telegraph Company back in the late 60's and early 70's and was offered a job in our district office as head of security, budged and OSHA for our district. To be honest, I didn't know a thing a about any one of those categories but with the assurance that they would train me, I took the promotion and we packed our bags for Washington, D. C. This is where I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting where it was decided that I would be a good candidate for such a position. At that point, they knew I could chop down weeds with a machete, and knew the difference between the tip and ring at the test board. Stranger things have happened. Luke 1:56 says, “And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.”

           We know from previous verses that when Mary walked into the room, the babe in the womb of Elizabeth, who was going to be John the Baptist, leaped. First of all, that tells you something about preborn infants that are still inside of the mother. In Jeremiah 1:5, God reminds Jeremiah that He knew Jeremiah even before Jeremiah was born. Psalm 139 also speaks of us as being known by God even before we were born. The exciting part here is that even when Mary walks into the room, John jumps. This passage reminds us that Mary and Elizabeth were together for 3 months before returning to her own home. Having had the initial experience that they had when they met, what would they talk about in the three months to come? For some reason, I don't think they just talked about how to make bread or to prepare meals or basic child care or the fact that they couldn't see their feet anymore. This had to be different. We read in other passages that there were those times when Mary would ponder certain events or words in her heart. This had to be different. I would imagine that Elizabeth spoke of the events in the temple and the message from the angel and Mary would be speaking about the event where Gabriel came to give her a personal message. God had chosen Mary to be the vessel that would bring forth the Son of God. Yes, I truly wonder what they spoke about for three months but the Bible doesn't give us a clue. We just know that she was there “about three months” and then went home. In a few months, God would direct the government to get all of the people back to their home town and Mary and Joseph were going to be taking a journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It is amazing to see how God puts together a plan and how people re moved from one point to another. It still happens today. I have never believed in coincidence as God puts us exactly where He wants us each and every day. Paul and Silas were traveling around at the beginning of their second missionary journey and the Holy Spirit began directing them and telling them that they should not go to certain areas that they wanted to go and so they end up waiting in Troas until the receiving of the Macedonian Vision. Yes, God is always working in mysterious ways or at least, ways that we are not aware of at the moment. I wonder what He has in store for us today? Praise God today for His directing of our lives.