Lenten Journey: Waiting for the Lord

"Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her." Luke 1:57-58

I have always planned my life to the last minute detail. I picked my wedding date two years in advance, I knew the names of my children while I was still dating my future husband and I planned exactly when they would be born. It never occurred to me, in my very organized life, that I would not conceive a child on the first attempt. Two years into our marriage was the right time for us to have a baby. That was our plan but it wasn't God's plan.

After six months of trying unsuccessfully to have a baby, I started to get a little desperate. It was not supposed to be like that. I should have been pregnant already. I went to a specialist and after a lot of testing, treatments, medications and prayers, I found out I was expecting sixteen months after I started trying. It was the sixteen longest months of my life. Having a baby had almost become an obsession.

Elizabeth had already given up hope that she would ever have a child. She was past menopause so getting pregnant was not an option anymore. I know the agony that she must have gone through while she was a newlywed and month after month passed and she couldn't conceive a child. In those days, not being able to have a child was more than a misfortune. It was a disgrace.

But God had a great plan for Elizabeth. Against all odds and to her surprise, she became pregnant in her old age. God wanted to make sure that nobody doubted that her pregnancy was a miracle. And nobody did. Her family and friends were amazed. The only one that doubted God, in spite of the fact that an angel appeared to him to give him the good news, was her husband Zechariah. And for doubting, he lost his voice.

We cannot doubt God's plan for us. He keeps showing us over and over through all these characters from the Bible, that He can do amazing things if we just believe. The problem is that we get impatient and we don't like to wait. But we have to keep in mind that while we wait, He works. He will fulfill His plan for us in His time. We may not always understand His plan but we must continue to trust Him. If Elizabeth had not trusted Him, she might never have had the child that she had always longed for. God took His time but He never forgot her.