“How kind the LORD is! He has taken away my disgrace of having no children”

Elizabeth in Luke 1:25

Reading this, I understand how Elizabeth must have been feeling. She was old and barren. She had wrapped her livelihood around being a mother (as a lot of women do), and now she was finally pregnant. 

During those times especially, you were pitied and seen as an outcast if you could not have children (even now women start being pressured to have children as soon as they’re married, and if they do things their own way they are frowned upon).

Back then, if you couldn’t have children, it was assumed that the Lord was mad at you and that he did not look upon you with favor. 

Elizabeth started believing that she was a disgrace — a lie from the enemy. 

Like Elizabeth, there are so many women who put their identities in their roles (student, girlfriend, employee, wife, mother), and when their desired roles don’t work out how and when they want, they start believing God has forgotten them and they have no purpose. But taking on certain roles is not what qualifies us as God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9). “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done” — works cannot save us (Ephesians 2:8&9).

Elizabeth could only see things through the eyes of the public (maybe like you do? media?) She did not set her mind on eternal things (Colossians 3:2), and she especially did not know the plans God had for her.

Not to worry though because God knows the plans he has for you (Jeremiah 29:11). 

God did grant Elizabeth a child; however, becoming a mother is not what made her holy in the eyes of the Lord. Luke 1:6 says “Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes” BEFORE He gave them a child. 

She was never a disgrace

God was waiting.

He was not holding out on her; He was holding back until the proper time.

He was not punishing or shaming her. He was blessing her.

His timing was perfect; His timing is perfect.

The enemy (and society) may have convinced her that because she wasn’t a mother she was a disgrace, BUT she was actually destined to be the mother of God’s chosen messenger (Malachi 3:1). When Elizabeth did conceive (according to God’s plans) she conceived John the Baptist. John the Baptist was born to prepare the way for Jesus; he was born at just the right time (a few months before Jesus) in accordance to what God always planned. John the Baptist needed to be born when he was; therefore, Elizabeth had to wait.

She did not see that God was always blessing her until the physical blessing was born.

Not only was she not a disgrace but she was graced with a special gift and purpose from God.

What an honor and privilege not only to be a mother but to be the mother of John the Baptist.

God has great plans for you, but we are not guaranteed to get all that we want, especially not when we want. His will for us might look different than his will for others, and His will for us might look different than society’s will for us. 

Elizabeth believed the lie. Her community believed the lie.

When she became a mother, her neighbors and relatives rejoiced but not because she was being used by God to fulfill his plan. They rejoiced because they thought God was finally looking upon her with favor and being merciful to her (Luke 1:58). It was only when a miracle took place that her community started seeing things as bigger than their cultural expectations (Luke 1:65-66). 

You might be believing a lie about your life. And your community may be reinforcing it. You may feel constrained to live out the status quo and do what your culture expects of you. But God is bigger than what everyone else seems to be doing. He has purpose for you even if you feel like you are being neglected. 

Don’t wait to see the Lord’s kindness until you get what you want because He is just as kind in the waiting. He is kind when your plans aren’t working out. He is kind when your neighbors and relatives are not. You are not a disgrace, and the Lord has not forgotten you.

If you are old, barren, widowed, single, tempted, sinful, unemployed, desperate, a drop out, homeless, clueless, lonely, orphaned, disabled, sick, poor, or any other type of outcast, you are not a disgrace in the eyes of the Lord! No matter what society screams at you, you can be bought by the blood of Jesus. And when you are, you are righteous and holy in his eyes. 

You are seen; He is not holding out on you.

You can’t see it now, but maybe he is holding back until the perfect time when what you want will have the greatest potential. There is a purpose for God’s timing. And there is power in the Lord’s plans. 

Elizabeth was not guaranteed to ever have children. She was righteous in the Lord’s eyes when she did not have children. She was following Him and obeying his commands, and that was enough.

She would still have been loved even if she had never become a mother. God still would have had purpose in not giving her a child.

We have to trust that the Lord is controlling the things we cannot see –in a beneficial way because he loves us and has great plans for us not in a negative way because we are a disgrace or forgotten.

He loves us; He died for us (Romans 5:8). He is working all things (that we can and cannot seen, need and do not want) for good (Romans 8:28).

---

To read the full story, click here (or turn to Luke 1 in your Bible)

As always, feel free to reach out! I love you!