A Visit to Elizabeth

Let me say it again, this season I am captivated by the story of Mary. And last week I reflected on Mary's ability to look to the Lord. Her ability to look above and beyond her situation and perspective to see the greater picture.

And today I find myself taking a step back. Between the time of finding out she was pregnant to her actually declaring her praise was a journey.

Luke 1:39 "and then Mary made haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth."

She knew no one would understand. She knew the consequences of being a single mother back in the day. She ran to a refuge, her cousin Elizabeth.

We all know that John the Baptist was the one who "prepared the way" for Jesus (Isaiah 40:30, Mark 1:3). However, as John prepared the way for Jesus, I believe that Elizabeth began the process by preparing the way for Mary.

Mary came to her, probably terrified, being taken off-guard in every way by this unexpected miracle. Cultural norms, age, and gender all working together against her. I feel like my problems (and the problems of every modern mom) diminish to almost nothing in comparison to what she was facing. She was probably terrified, but knowing if anyone would accept her it may be Elizabeth. However, I'm sure a hint of doubt lingered in her mind. Would her cousin embrace her with open arms, or turn her over to the elders? Always a trusted friend in the past, could this possibly be the moment where all things turned against her? Yet, as Mary entered their home, and before she could say much more than 'hello,' this was how Elizabeth greeted her:

 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:41-45, ESV)

Elizabeth was so in tune with the Lord that in the living of the day-to-day she became filled with the Spirit and spoke the most timely words to Mary's heart. She not only confirmed that this was the Lord's will, but confirmed that Mary was walking in the will of the Lord.

The affirmed that this was a "blessing." She confirmed that this, indeed was the Son of God. And she affirmed that Mary had made the right choice to believe in the promises of God.

God always prepares the way. He sends people ahead of us, to walk the journeys with us, and speak the truth of a situation so that we can see the light and join in our own song of praise.

This passage has just caused me to reflect on all the 'Elizabeth's' the Lord has put in my life during this season. Again, I'm not a single, a teenager, or living in the ancient far east. However, pregnancy, motherhood, and life in general hold a piece of the terrifying unknown. That's also why we have people who have gone ahead in the journey and can speak calm and hope into the chaos and uncertain. I am so thankful today for these people (I hope you all know who you are). And I encourage those that are Elizabeth's to take the initiative to speak peace to the Mary's and the Mary's to seek out Elizabeth's.

On Christmas "the word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:15).God came to be with us so that we could see God. Mary and Elizabeth were apart of this work as Elizabeth walked with Mary and spoke the truth of God over her life. We continue this work as we walk with one another through this journey of life.  As Christ was God to us, let us be Christ to one another. Merry Christmas!
 

Mary's Song

Every time Christmas rolls around I love to reflect on the Christmas story. Between meditating on the actual scripture passages, singing caroled hymns, putting up the Nativity there's no shortage of reflection. And every year there seems to be a new character in the Nativity story that catches my attention. This year it's Mary. Maybe it's because since I've married a Mexican and we pass the Virgin Guadalupe every time we go to buy a concha. Maybe it's because I work in a crisis pregnancy center and, oh yeah, this was probably the biggest unplanned pregnancy of all time. Or maybe it's because I, myself, am pregnant.

But wait. Let's back up, because I haven't blogged since May and all this has happened since then. So incase you haven't heard the tornado of my thoughts, I moved, got married, and changed jobs all in a month. 2 weeks later I find out I'm pregnant. Now on the horizons there's more change which is a bit of a secret for now. But let's just say I'm just wanting a little taste of normal. Most of these changes are happy. Some have been upsetting and sad. All of these changes are good. But let's face the facts: change, even good change is a difficult whirlwind to ride through. So let's just say the Father and I have had a few sit-down cry sessions as I'm working on "managing" this transition.

Then we have Mary. The original "16 and Pregnant". And all of my crazy is put into perspective. Little Virgin Mary is stopped by a stranger on the street and told "Hey you're pregnant!" Talk about a turn of events. She was engaged in a time where virginity was value and let's face is, the only way to get pregnant was to...
To loose hold of that sacred treasure, as a woman, would mean a death sentence (I'm not kidding, Matthew 1:19).

So here's me crying out, because I want some normal. And here's Mary's answer:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”--(Luke 1:46-55)

Mary's response was not that of fear and frustration, but of trust and hope. How much I have to learn. I think there are times where we need honesty with God. There are times we need to grieve and pour out our hearts. Then I believe there are times when we need to look beyond our fear into the hope we have. This is our time to praise. When we focus our eyes on the one who's power is stronger and greater than ours we begin to see the bigger picture that the Lord is at work and we can trust. He is our Immanuel, God with us. That is the meaning of Christmas. Mary was the first to experience this truth and as we sit in praise, waiting for God's plan to come to fullness we experience the Christmas story in our own lives.