Today I want to look at Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, and the mother of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:6 describes Elizabeth as righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. Talk about a Godly woman.

As I have studied Elizabeth the fact that she was married to a priest struck a chord of familiarity with me as I too, am married to a minister. Also like Elizabeth, I was told years ago by doctors that I would  not be able to conceive and have children. While my two daughters don’t have a ‘John the Baptist’ calling on their lives, they are my miracle babies nonetheless.

I’ve been trying to put myself in Elizabeth’s place, in her skin so to speak.  Thinking about what I would do, or how I would react, if my husband went to church and came home unable to speak.  At least in this century, paper and pen are easily found, computers are readily available and cell phone texting would all make communicating with someone who couldn’t speak much easier, but Elizabeth & Zechariah didn’t have things like we do now.

According to scripture it seems like they had been married for quite a while when this event of Zechariah losing his speech and Elizabeth becoming pregnant happened.  What a wild year that would have been in their home.

In my imagination, I wonder if they played some kind of crazy charades game to try and communicate, or if Zechariah was able to get what happened to him and what was revealed to him through to Elizabeth or not. They would have had to develop a whole new way to communicate, through gestures, touch, through emotion or by looking into each other’s eyes.

It would have developed a whole new level of closeness and intimacy in their relationship as Zechariah would have been more dependent on Elizabeth and Elizabeth would have needed to become more in tune with Zechariah’s needs.

As I have been meditating on this and considering the relationship between Zechariah and Elizabeth, I find myself also thinking about my own marriage. Am I the kind of wife that could be described the way Elizabeth was described in Luke 1:6? Am I the kind of wife that could handle drastic changes with grace and even rejoicing like Elizabeth did (see Luke 1:41-45) extending hospitality to others during challenging times like Elizabeth did while coping with a husband who couldn’t communicate and a pregnancy.

I’ve also been thinking about how the challenges they faced would have brought Zechariah and Elizabeth closer together as a couple. While most people do not like challenges, there can be positive things that come out of challenging times.

I love that the bible gives us the stories of the lives of real people that we can relate to so we can learn from their lives.

Looking at Elizabeth, I’ve come to a few conclusions. Here they are:

–          Elizabeth was a woman devoted to her husband. She stood with him throughout the time he wasn’t able to speak (a disability) with tremendous grace.

–          Elizabeth was an example to the women in her community of how to be a Godly woman and a Godly wife and her example lives on to today for us to learn from.

–          Elizabeth was able to rejoice through the challenge – she was happy about her pregnancy as late in life as it happened all while her husband still had his disability

–          Elizabeth was not so caught up in her own life that she missed what was happening to others around her. She rejoiced with Mary about Mary’s pregnancy and recognized that the child Mary was carrying was from God as well.

If I’m to learn anything from Elizabeth and how she lived her life through this period of time it would be the following:

–          As a married Christian woman, I need to make sure my heart is devoted to my husband and I need to be supportive of him through all the seasons of life.

–          My life and the way I live it out each day sets an example to those in my community of what a Godly woman and a Godly wife looks like. I need to make sure I’m setting a good example.

–          Even when facing life’s challenges, I need to be able to rejoice in the Lord, to find my joy in the Lord and to face challenges with grace and humility.

–          I need to be more focused on God than on myself and more concerned about those around me than myself so I don’t miss what is truly important in this life. Also by not being solely focused on me and concerned about myself  I have less of a chance of thinking more highly of myself than I should (pride), or of feeling that I need to have a pity party for myself when life gets tough.

Elizabeth is an amazing example of what a Godly woman looks like.  We are blessed by having her life as an example to learn from.  I hope this helps someone today.

Be blessed!