What will they say now?

'People used to say she was barren...' Luke 1:36 NLT

"I hadn't expected it. I guess I believed...but for it to happen. I mean...for most of my life it was something I had always wanted. Something I had always sought God about, but then when I reached a certain age I wasn't sure if it was ever going to happen. I was too old! How could I possibly mother a child? The dream of holding my own baby began to fade. Barren. That's what they used to say. Barren. Not known because of my character or how I served God...but for my inability to have children. But I didn't want pity, for I trusted God."

In Luke 1, Elizabeth, a woman who had been barren for many years, finds out she is going to give birth. Not only will she be giving birth, but it will be to a man who will be making the way for the Lord. Not only has her prayers been answered, but she is going to give birth to someone who has a great calling on his life. God totally transformed her life - more than what she could ask or think. 

Elizabeth was once identified as being barren, but God changed all of that. We can walk through situations and people can form different opinions of our circumstances. Many may describe our situations as barren, but in that dry place what should we be doing? What are we believing?

I love that Zechariah means 'Yahweh remembers', do we? God remembers His promises and He is faithful to the end, but the question is, do we remember? Whilst waiting, even in her bareness, Elizabeth continued to serve God wholeheartedly. How many times do we lose hope and become miserable on our journey? When Mary is told she is going to give birth to Jesus, the Saviour of the world, she is also informed of Elizabeth's predicament. The angel tells Mary, 'People used to say she was barren...' Not no more! Why? 'Nothing is impossible with God' the angel says. If Mary has any question about what is going to happen in her life, God has directed her to her cousin Elizabeth who is about to give birth.

This challenges me on many different levels, but encourages me also. We need to remember the promises of God. Luke 1:45 (NLT) reads, 'You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said'. Do I believe? How much do I believe? Hebrews 11 outlines what many great people in the Bible did because they believed God. Not in their own ability, but because they believed God. It just takes us believing the words of God. Peter walked on water responding to Jesus saying 'Come'. We need to believe knowing that without faith we can not please God and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We are not to live hopeless, mourning each day that passes. Though she be called barren, I can imagine Elizabeth joyfully serving God. Psalms 25:3 reads that those who hope in the Lord will not be put to shame. After Elizabeth is pregnant, she rejoices in God because He has taken away her shame. I love 1 Peter 1:8, where Peter writes we believe in Him and so we are filled with inexpressible joy! I may not see the results of what I want to see, but the belief alone fills me with inexpressible joy. 'I know in Whom I have believed'. If God says it, it will come to pass. 

People used to say you were barren. What will they say now?

The stone was rolled away...

'It was a miserable, bleak day. The man who we had loved and followed was dead! Accused of blasphemy they killed him! Every parable He told, sickness He healed, and miracle shown declared of His love for us...and they killed Him. So as we made the grief-stricken journey to where He was buried, we prepared our hearts to anoint His body. Suddenly the question was asked, "Who will roll the stone away?" With all the emotion that clouded our hearts and minds, we hadn't considered this. He had been buried in a tomb, blocked by a huge stone. How would we reach him? How could a few women roll the stone away? As we approached the tomb, we saw that someone had gone ahead of us...as the stone had been rolled away...'

I've written this imagining the thoughts of the women making their way to anoint Jesus' body as outlined in Mark 16. They make the journey contemplating how to reach Jesus as a huge stone blocks the tomb. Not long after, they find that the stone had already been rolled away!

As I began to read Mark 16 my mind raced over the words of the text...I've read this before...is there anything new? But then my eyes caught the question 'Who will roll the stone away?' and my heart paused the race of my mind as those words echoed throughout my soul. It resonated within me, not because I had been asking that question, but because I had been asking God similar questions, and had possibly been losing hope with certain things. 'How will I do this...?' 'How is this going to happen...' 'What happens if...' Enjoying my journey of life, I suddenly became preoccupied by huge stones! So I could relate to this question.

Approaching the tomb, they found the stone had already been rolled away. How many times have we been anxious about things, only to find that God has gone before us and made a way for us. What happens in Mark 16 not only points to everyday situations that God has gone before us to remove obstacles and so we should trust in Him, but it also reminds us that Christ died and rose again to make a way for us. Romans 5:8 reads that 'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' Sinking and drowning in my sin, God goes ahead of me and makes a way for me to enter into His Kingdom.