From Desperation to Passion

I love discovering what names mean, especially when you know someone.  It is always fun to see if a person's name matches their personality.  For example my husband's name is Craig and the meaning of the name Craig is rock.  When I learned that last year all I could do was sit and smile because it fits him so well.  He is my rock and the steady of our home.  When I want to panic, he is calm and thoughtful.  The Lord knew when he gave me Craig that I needed a steady rock in my life.  

In my study "Spark Your Joy" by Margaret Feinberg, I learned that Elizabeth's name means my God is a vow and Zachariah's name means God remembers.  Wow!  As I read that all I could do was write wow beside it on my page because from all my study of Elizabeth it truly fits her and makes such a beautiful picture.  As I have looked at Elizabeth and thought about this post I have smiled and loved the picture of her.  She is someone out of the Bible I would love to sit and chat with over coffee.

What I love about Elizabeth in this story is that she did not hear from an angel or have a dramatic dream, she heard from her husband she would have a son and she believed him.  The Bible does not give you any sense that she doubted his telling (even though it was not in words).  It makes me wonder if she was outside the temple with the other people praying while he was inside.  Was she there when he returned unable to speak or was she at home taking care of their little home.  Elizabeth was one who I think loved to serve and entertain, because we discover later that she hosted Mary in her home for the last 3 months of her pregnancy.  Now, I will tell you from being pregnant that is truly a task.  

I can relate to Elizabeth when I think about how badly I wanted to be married and have a family.  I would pray and ask God desperately and it felt like all he would say was No.  It was not until I was 30 that I met my husband and at that it took him 2 1/2 years of chasing me for me to stop and see what God has sent me.  I had reached a point of giving up on marriage and was seeking to find contentment in my singleness.  I think Elizabeth was there.  She desperately wanted a child and yet the Bible says she was barren and had reached her older years.  This makes you think that she had given up on ever having a child and was trying to make the most of the life God had given her.  Zachariah was a priest so you know she knew the story of Sarah and Issac being born to very old parents.  I wonder if that story is what fueled her belief when she found out she would have a baby. I know when I finally stopped to see the man God had given me, I was stunned and overwhelmed because he was so much more than I deserved.  He still is.

Thing I want us to take away from Elizabeth is her faith in the Lord.  It took real trust and faith to accept what she was told, at her age and then continue on striving to participate in something you know is so much bigger than you.  Do I think she may have felt overwhelmed...probably but I also think there must have been a sense of excitement and humbleness knowing the roll her son would play.  She was a woman who in a small amount of time witnessed numerous miracles from Zachariah's voice, vision, her pregnancy, and Mary's pregnancy.  This makes me want to hear about the passion and fire for the Lord that it stirred up in her heart.  

We too have the opportunity to be used by God each day as we step out of our homes and interact with the world around us.  The question is when the opportunity is presented, are we going to have the faith of Elizabeth and step out on faith knowing that God always keeps his promises?