Looking-On-Us-Love: A Lesson From Elizabeth

Dear Molly (and anyone else who cares to join us), 

I’m excited to read through Luke again and to discuss together what we are learning about Christ’s birth.  I’ve decided to call these my “Dear Molly” entries since Luke is writing to his “most excellent Theophilus”! Silly, I know, but kinda fun!  If you want me to start addressing you that way we can discuss it at our next meeting! :)

Here are my thoughts thus far on Luke.  I can’t wait to get together and hear yours!

Day 1 – Luke 1:1 – 25

When I read this ancient story of infertility I can’t help but think of the hope it must bring to any couple that has struggled to have a child.  In Zechariah and Elizabeth’s case there was a purpose behind their years of heartache and waiting.  God had a very special child in mind for them, a cousin to Jesus who we know as John the Baptist.  And their years of waiting tilled the soil for their joy to be multiplied 100 fold to what it might have been had God answered their prayer for a child right away.  It also set the stage for this miracle that no one could deny, how else could an older man and woman conceive a child except by God’s design?  

I love how Elizabeth responds to her pregnancy in a very personal way with God.  She knows she is just a speck in the sea of humanity and this new life inside her is evidence that God has taken note of her.  Elizabeth acknowledges her lifetime of sorrow and praises God for personally answering her prayer when in her words, “He looked on me” (1:25).  She doesn’t just say “He heard me” implying that after years He finally relented.  She makes it more personal than that.  She knows that God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, looked at her!   God gave her His full attention, heard her heart’s cry and in His Perfect timing answered her greatest desire.

It reminds me of countless moments when my children ask for my attention throughout the day.  Almost every time I am busy doing something else.  So often I don’t even turn and look at them when they are talking to me.  I keep on doing my task and verbally acknowledge their request; but every once in a while I get it right.  I stop and stoop down and look them in the eye and give them my FULL attention.  I acknowledge their need, owie, request, frustration or whatever it is they are trying to tell me.  This is the picture I get when Elizabeth says that God “looked on (her).”  And it is the picture of God’s love that He has for you and me and the whole world that He wants to convey to us. 

As a Christian I believe everything has a purpose and God’s best plan is being unfolded, even if I can’t see it.  This story of infertility leading up to the miraculous birth of John the Baptist is a story of faith in God’s sovereign timing, His Looking-On-Us-Love and His amazing plan to rescue us all beginning to unfold.