December 7, 2022
Luke 1:39-45
“A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town/ where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth./At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leapt within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit./Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, ‘God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed./ Why am I so honoured, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?/ When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy./You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.’”
I read this passage a couple of times trying to think of what to say… There weren’t any real themes or lessons that jumped out at me right away so I decided to break it down and highlighted a couple of verses that stood out to me. The first is verse 45; “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Because Mary trusted God and knew that his promises were good and loyal she was blessed by him. When we wholly trust God and his promises; when we remember that he is good: his promises are good and his plans are good, that's when he blesses us the most because we have faith in him as he tells us to. Last year God was calling me to trust him and to face situations knowing that he had a good plan and he would never let me fall. Ask God if there are spaces in your life he wants you to trust him more and thank him for times when you’ve witnessed him not letting you fall and you have seen his plan unfold.
The second verse that was highlighted to me was verse 43; “Why am I so honoured, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?” I just find it so cool how in awe Elizabeth is of Mary. She’s so joyful and wonderstruck that she is even lucky enough to know Mary and to spend time with her when she knows how blessed she is and how amazing the plans are that God has put into motion in her life. We are blessed to be a part of or to witness other people’s blessings. Think about times when you were blessed enough to witness someone else’s blessing, and ask God why he made you be a part of that experience. Another verse was called to mind: 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad.” When one of us is blessed we all are blessed! God set up this moment for Mary and Elizabeth, for Elizabeth to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to tell Mary how blessed she is.God recognizes her trust in his promises.Elizabeth recognizes that she too is blessed simply by knowing Mary and celebrating God’s promises with her.
Hey God,
We know that your plans and your promises are good but sometimes we need a little reminder. I pray that you would be the warm, comforting and gentle reminder in the back of our minds, telling us to trust you and reminding us of the countless times before when you have led us on your path to truly great things. And would you nudge us with the holy spirit in times when we are blessed to witness others’ blessings. I pray that we would rest in the truth that you will never let us fall and through that we would trust you and put our faith in you always. Thank you for all your goodness and all your faithfulness to us, you are truly deserving of our trust and praise. Thank you for all you have done and all that you have in store.
Amen
Written by Jade Beitz
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