Her Who Was Called Barren
Deferred gratification is only satisfying if the gratification comes.
Many people in this world wait for something to happen in their lives only to find themselves passing the time in constant frustration that everyone around them is getting something while they wait. It’s like being at one of those pizza places that sets the plates down way too early before they bring out the pizza. I don’t know if it’s just me but I can’t stand it. We place our order. A few minutes later the plates arrive at our table. Which makes my heart flutter with glee. I think yippie our food is coming. And then my dreams are crushed repeatedly as table after table beside us gets their pizzas first. Why set the plates out if I have to sit and stare at them empty.
This is what waiting on the Lord feels like at times. Many of us are in a hard booth shoulder slumped season of life waiting on some mediocre pizza. We don’t really like the place but it was what sounded good at the time. And we’ve been pretty good boys and girls waiting patiently for the server to serve us. But the plates should have been filled by now. You paid for that slice of joy. You put in the work with God. You should be blessed by now. Others are stuffing their faces with blessing. They’ve been served. Why not you? AND their crust is stuffed? Does he even see you anymore? Who’s back in that kitchen anyway? Did He forget about your desires? Is your plate to remain barren?
These questions, excluding the pizza hut metaphors, would have been on the mind of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
One day Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, left the house to go to work as he always did. He entered his workplace to perform his familiar duties of his vocation. He was a priest, advanced in years the Bible says. In other words he was old, and had been on the job for a while. He entered the Temple with the familiarity of an old worker. And on this day he did what he always did, he prayed.
We can imagine he prayed a lot like you and I pray. He probably prayed for his own relationship with God. He would have prayed for peace and prosperity. He would have prayed for the wellbeing and the flourishing of his family, his wife at home. And we can also imagine his prayers were full of familiar heartache. He and his wife Elizabeth had no child. And she greatly desired one. Many years Zechariah would have interceded on behalf of his wife. Many years he would have yearned for the Lord to bless them with the ordinary, yet extraordinary joy of a child. And for many years they had to watch others around them get served before them. Despite their faithfulness in the waiting, year after year he would have had to watch, would have had to preside a blessing over other people's plates being filled while his wife sat staring at hers empty.
This may be you? “Her who was called barren” could be you right now (Lk 1:36). Despite your righteous pursuits, you're not getting the righteous reward. What’s the problem?
Maybe there’s not a problem. Well at least not like what you think. You may not have sinned and stopped God’s blessing. That’s such a crude way of looking at the world. God is not some vending machine we throw the hips of our good works into and wait for a loose candy bar to fall. God is a master chef preparing for us hearty delights and sweet treats for eternity. And just because the sizzling plate of hot goodness has not hit your plate does not mean it isn’t coming. Maybe He’s still cooking.
Let Elizabeth teach you a lesson. The years of our baroness will give way to delight. But this delight comes through the lackluster humdrum of a life of long obedience in the same direction. And it does not come without years of grief. But the good news is that the bitter disappointment of years of prolonged hope will finally give way to the fulfillment of that hope. Our disgrace, our reproach, our disappointment, our embarrassment, our bitterness, will all be taken away (1:25). It will be taken away at the appearance of the Lord.
It was in old age and humility that Elizabeth saw her plate finally filled. And there was no denying it. It was not by the force of her youth, the will of her body, it was by faith alone that she was blessed by God. “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk 1:37). God met Elizabeth in her lowly waiting and demonstrated his great power to satisfy her desire.
And of course Elizabeth's miracle points us to the greater miracle of Jesus. The cousin of Elizabeth's baby, born of miraculous cause in the womb of the virgin Mary. As the world was waiting for many years in impatient darkness God was cooking, readying his main course, waiting for it to be served in the fullness of time. Christ is that main course. He has come to the waiting world as the bread of life, the satisfaction of our souls. The incarnation is that great demonstration of God’s steadfast commitment to come near to the barren, to fulfill the desires of the hungry. And 2000 years later the invitation still extends to the barren among us. Have faith. Draw near to the Lord, and he will draw near to you. He will satisfy the desires of your heart.