You know she was thrilled.
Like any girl on her wedding day, she was excited for the future.
She had dreams and plans.
I wonder if she had baby names picked out in her head? I’m sure she couldn’t wait to have a houseful of laughter and giggles.
She was the wife of a priest. She could only dream how the Lord would bless their family.
But as time began to pass, she wondered what was wrong with her. There were no children.
Not even the hope of one.
Surely the Lord wouldn’t overlook her!
She fought the brokenness that threatened to consume her. People asked her, “Elisabeth, when will you give Zacharias a child?”
She never knew what to say.
That’s all she wanted to do.
Yet here she stood, on the steps of the temple, as her husband did his priestly duties, with empty and aching arms.
She couldn’t go into the holy of holies.
But she stood on the steps of the temple and prayed. She loved the Lord. Surely he would hear her and not leave her this way.
Weeks turned into months, months turned into years. And the years began to fly by.
I’m sure she tried every remedy under the sun.
She heard the whispers of others as she walked by, the word “barren” seemed to be hanging around her neck.
She celebrated others as they welcomed children into their families.
Yet wept bitterly behind closed doors because she didn’t understand why the Lord would not hear her.
The years flew by.
Barren.
And she knew it was too late.
There would be no children in their future.
The child bearing age had passed her by.
She felt so guilty. Maybe this was her fault somehow. She had prayed, but maybe not enough. She had loved her husband and served him, but maybe she had fallen short too many times.
She battled to stay clean in heart toward the Lord, yet she always wondered why he never had heard her cries.
Until the day, that she showed up, faithfully in her place, as Zacharias went into the temple.
She prayed.
And this day, God answered.
She wondered what took him so long that day.
Finally, he came out the door, and opened his mouth to speak, yet no sound exited his lips.
She didn’t understand.
Had the Lord not put them through enough?
Until, soon after, she realized that her empty womb was fruitful. There was no question about it. She WOULD have a child, even when it was impossible to all others. The Lord had heard her, all those years. She didn’t understand all of the timing yet, but she realized that he had never once overlooked her.
If he would’ve answered her the first time she prayed, she couldn’t have borne the forerunner of Christ.
Her delay was not a denial.
Her waiting was not in vain.
There was no man that was born of a woman who was greater than the one she carried.
Even in the moments that she felt the most alone, God was working and lining her miracle up.
Even when it seemed it was too late, it wasn’t for Him. It was right on time.
Don’t give up.
Your miracle is on the way.
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