In the previous post, I stated I was pregnant with possibilities. Two women in Scripture, Sarah and Elizabeth were barren. I, too, was barren. Not in the same sense of course. Let’s begin by taking a look at Sarah.

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.  I will bless her, and moreover, I will give  you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”  Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. (Genesis 17:15-19)

God does the impossible. An elderly couple becomes parents. A barren womb produces life. How can that possibly be? A divine intervention by our magnificent God. This woman longed for a child. She was an outsider with damaged goods. No baby and of no worth as a woman in her world. The breath of life gives her a hopeful legacy. No mention of “Why didn’t God do this for me in my youth?” She did attempt to orchestrate the timeline and that produced a people group not in step with Truth that continues to this day. Her hasty attempt to fix reminds me that I have done the same. God is always on time. Oh, how easily I forget.

A long jump from Genesis to Luke takes us to Elizabeth.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.  And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”  And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.  And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.  And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (Luke 1:5-25)

Zechariah was literally speechless! Sarai laughed; Zechariah questioned. I stall. I plan. I want the end result only if getting there makes sense to me. I have spent over a decade spinning my wheels. Until my magnificent God got my attention and disrupted the cycle, I would spin and spin and spin. Dizzy and in exactly the same spot.

It looks as if another entry (or more) will be needed to adequately tell the story.