Someday Devotional: Day 13
Devotional by Sandi Patty (2000)
Luke 1:42-45
“Elizabeth gave a glad cry…”
How precious these verses are. I can almost picture the scene in my mind. Mary hurried to see Elizabeth. Elizabeth did not hesitate to celebrate Mary’s wonderful news. I can imagine the two of them embracing as they cry one minute and laugh another. This young woman and this wise older woman celebrating God and celebrating their womanhood. Elizabeth felt honored that Mary had greeted her and she said that Mary was indeed blessed.
Elizabeth has modeled for us how to be a great friend. She truly rejoiced with Mary. She had a choice in how she would respond to Mary’s news. What if she had said, “hey just a minute here. I’m the one who should be carrying the Son of God. After all, I am older and wiser, and I have been patient all these years when I couldn’t get pregnant. You are just a child. How dare you come into my house and expect me to be happy for you. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME.”
How many times have we thought or said, “It should have been me. Why, God why? It should have been me.” I’ll be honest, I know I have. “I want to be fit and thin like my friends.” (oops, did I say that out loud)? And I am challenged, even today, by Elizabeth’s response to Mary. What a good friend Elizabeth was to her. However, Elizabeth was more that just a good friend. In Luke 1:25, Elizabeth proclaimed, “How kind the Lord is.” You see, the very important point here is Elizabeth knew who she was in relationship with God. She thanked and praised Him for her blessings. She was in the right ‘frame of heart’ to celebrate with Mary.
I know in my own life that the more I complain and compare, the more angry and bitter I allow myself to become. My spirit says, “It should have been me.” But when I know who I am in relationship with God and take the time to thank and praise Him for my blessings - to find the joy in every situation - then my spirit says, “It isn’t even about me. It’s about you, God.”
Excerpt from devotional Someday: A Book of Days
Copyright © 2000 by Sandi Patty
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