Elizabeth

I have been thinking about Elizabeth this week.
The one with wrinkled skin. Withered womb. She whose life is full, of reproach. And empty, of children's laughter.
The relative, whose outward actions are blameless before God. But whose heart is full of blame, aimed inward.
I have considered she, who has been desperate, disappointed, destitute. She who has waited. Months. Years. A life time. And has borne the rewards of mockery, shame, regret.
Elizabeth. The Barren.
Unfruitful. Unproductive. Unused.
Until.
"The good news of Jesus Christ- the Message!- begins here..... Thunder in the desert!" Mark 1:1-3 Message
Did you catch that? There is power storming through the dried up. The good news begins with John. The favor, shown by God, to the one barren, to remove her disgrace.
The withered now brims with life. A miracle in her old age. God's mercy is fleshed out to prepare the way for His mercy, clothed in skin.
What relief after a life of pain! The empty, now full. "For nothing is impossible with God. " Luke 1:37
And that is what strikes me most: the impossible, becomes possible. The desperate, now have hope. The unfruitful, now bear, abundantly. This barren branch of Aaron, now prepares the way for the Lord.
Elizabeth cries out, "The Lord has done this for me..." Luke 1:25
And hasn't He done the same for you, and for me? Pouring life into the withered? Using the unusable? Removing the shame?
Such mercy overflowing an old woman, named Elizabeth.
Such mercy overflowing me. Indeed, the Lord has done this.
The Lord. Has done THIS.