“Meeting Him required quieting my insides enough to hear and respond. The kind of dialogue I was learning to have with God burgeoned when I saw it as an exchange — my mind for His thoughts, my fear for His assurance, my whispers for His response.”- Sara Hagerty
“Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”- Matthew 26:13 (NKJV)
In Chapter 7 (“Secret Extravagance: Wasting Ourselves on God”) of Unseen, Sara Hagerty encourages us not to consider conversation with God in the midst of a demanding day wasteful. Instead, such conversation provides food for the hungry heart. In addition, it’s a gift of hiddenness.
Also, Ms. Hagerty equates God’s currency with communion. Thus, communion’s a relationship:
- that grows, nearer still (emphasis Sara’s)
- that’s cultivated in hiddenness – when no one’s looking
- accessed not just when we feel we need His help, but at odd times punctuating agenda-driven days
- deeply feeding the recipient in a way productivity and accomplishment simply cannot
Hence, Sara describes our relationship with God as “what a waste” – a beautiful waste. So when the onlookers question Mary’s extravagance (“Why this waste”), the wrapped condemnation in their question. Yet, Mary found what mattered. And she developed a habit of this as she uncapped her love for Jesus.
In conclusion, the author states, Jesus acclaimed Mary’s choice to pour oil on His feet (Matthew 26:13). Today, Jesus invites us to make the same choice. He invites us to “live by a reckless love — even, and perhaps especially, in our hiddenness.”
Today’s question: How would you complete this sentence? I find ________ most helpful in quieting my insides enough. Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Itching to climb out of the hidden place”
