What is your priority?
Time to reexamine what it means to do the will of God
(Image courtesy of Phil Hearing, Unsplash)
“During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, “
Luke 1:39
What is your priority? Is it rushing to work or finishing a project? Or maybe it is getting the kids out of the house as fast as you possibly can. Maybe it’s your career or succession plan in life. Maybe it is constantly looking towards getting to the next step. Whatever it is, chances are you haven’t really sat down to figure out divine priorities, God’s agenda items for your life- the ones that will bring meaning, divine realignment, and peace.
Mary understood the concept of divine priority. In the middle of her ordinary life came an extraordinary new direction. All of her human priorities were washed away at a moment’s notice. The plans she made for her life became subservient to her divine Master.
The greek word for haste means “quickly obeying what the Lord reveals is His priority,” (See https://biblehub.com/greek/4710.htm). But how can we know what the Lord’s priority is? We can’t unless we want and ask for it. It is a wanting that goes beyond ourselves, a need for Him that far surpasses our earthly lives, an intensity and swiftness to act that can only be felt and known by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Mary knew this well. Her ability to hear and obey the will of God caused her to leave to see Elizabeth right away without a knowing why. There were no answers from the angel, only Holy directions. And the answer from our most perfect mother was
Yes, Yes, Yes!
If we are in such a haste to complete our earthly tasks, why not more so to find out the will of God? To seek His priorities and His agenda. To obey and run swiftly when we are asked. To be like Mary who didn’t have to ask why, but instead, did as she was told and just went.
Today, let’s ask our Most Blessed Mother for her intercession, that we make haste to hear the will of God and obey swiftly and completely. That we may, like her, find the joy that God has chosen us to carry out His will, and that we find comfort that God has a better plan for us than we have for ourselves when we make Him our priority.
I've been studying the Wisdom literature of the Bible. The book of Job is a rather fascinating text with how it is written. The narrative of the story is situated like a frame outside the dialogues of Job; his friends and Job and God. In the narrative, Job is vindicated by not cursing God, but the dialogues do no such thing as they serve as a chastisement of Job.
In the Wisdom literature, there are two types of wisdom, one from experience and the other which is revealed by God. Job declares his innocence before God that he is righteous before God, but his friend Elihu refutes him by telling him that Wisdom that is revealed by God shows that all are sinners, even Job.
You write, "The greek word for haste means “quickly obeying what the Lord reveals is His priority,” (See https://biblehub.com/greek/4710.htm). But how can we know what the Lord’s priority is? We can’t unless we want and ask for it."
What is interesting in Job's story is that he has three dialogues with God. In the first dialogue, he addresses God, but in the other two, he simply talks about God and his situation. I think there is an exegetical interpretation here that at first he is praying to God, but becomes consumed by what has happened to him and the misguided notion of his innocence. Job turns inward instead of outward toward God, indicating perhaps his own guilt.
The narrative of the story shows that Job stays true to God, which differs from the dialogues, so in some sense, I wonder if the dialogues are more representative of prayer and the ordering of Job's will internally to the will of God, as you write, "To obey and run swiftly when we are asked. To be like Mary who didn’t have to ask why, but instead, did as she was told and just went."
In Mary's case, I often remarked the Joyful mysteries are filled with sorrow, but Mary shows us the correct ordering of our own will toward God. The annunciation puts Mary into the situation of being pregnant prior to the finalization of her marriage with Joseph. She makes haste to Elizabeth during this time to help her kin, the difficult journey to Bethlehem, being told her heart will be pierced and losing Jesus to discover Him doing the will of His Father.
Being favored by God is filled with difficulty, let us live the example of the Blessed Mother and step into it by virtue of our Baptism.