Day 4 – Speaking in silence
“When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this, his wife, Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,“ she said. “In these days, he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Luke 1:23-25
Imagine this story from Elizabeth’s perspective. As you read it, put yourself in her sandals, in her skin. She’s feeling the years in her back and joints and sees the wrinkles in the mirror.
She’s carrying a lifetime of “reproach” (v. 25) that she feels, at some level, almost daily.
And then her husband comes home from work, mute, unable to utter a word.
What in the world is going on?
He’s gesturing and writing notes to try to explain something crazy about an angel and a baby.
Eventually, she pieces together the whole incredible story.
She, well along in years and barren, Elizabeth, is going to have a what?? A baby!
Has Zachariah lost his mind along with his voice?
She now has to trust and believe her husband, an angel, and God, against all practical common sense.
Inward: Father, what do you want me to know?
Imagine with me what is tumbling around in her head and heart.
Imagine her making love to her old husband with a sense of hope and expectation that has been gone for decades.
Imagine the day her EPT shows a little +!
Imagine her standing in front of the mirror, watching her baby bump grow with amazed belief.
Elizabeth kept her news quiet and hidden for five months. Why do you think she did this?
Outward: Father, what do you want me to do?
Pray forward. What might it look like for your burden to be lifted? Can you imagine it? Do you dare ask for it and hope for it?
