Luke says some other things about Elizabeth that we should explore in some detail before considering his main narrative about her. She and her husband were righteous in the sight of God, something not said of very much of the priesthood throughout the entire Bible. They both walked blamelessly in all of God's commandments and requirements. Does the Bible say that about anyone else at all? Job comes to mind as one possibility. I certainly can't find anyone else, but the comparison with Job serves as a reminder that God allows his most faithful people to live through some difficult challenges.

Their friends and neighbors, not having the chance to read Luke, didn't know that God considered Zacharias and Elizabeth blameless. All they knew was that Zacharias, although one of the older priests, had never been selected by lot to burn incense in the temple and that Elizabeth was childless. Most of them wouldn't have thought of Job. Most of them would have assumed that somehow these two were not as good as they seemed and that God must be punishing them for some hidden sin. The more gossipy people in town probably tried to figure out what might be wrong with them. They may have even seen fit to pass on their wisdom and good advice to the unhappy pair themselves.

Don't we all know Elizabeth now? Elizabeth did all the right things, yet God withheld her greatest desire. She knew stories of other barren women in the Bible who eventually bore sons who became great men of God: Sarai, Rebekah, Rachel, Hanna. Did those stories give her comfort? Did well-meaning friends tell her about those women until she got sick of hearing them?

A Christian's greatest desire does not have to be the birth of a son to carry on the family name. Some of us indeed ache for children, but others yearn for a husband or wife, for a wayward child to return home, for a loved one to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, for a circle of caring friends, for a decent job. Some of us know we're not blameless and look to God for help in breaking some bad habit or repairing relationships we know very well that we played a role in straining or breaking. Yet day by day, month by month, year by year, time passes and nothing seems to happen. We pray fervently and seem to be met only with God's stony silence.

How long can we continue to go to church and be active there, pray for friends and even members of the congregation we hardly know, minister to others in their pain, serve God cheerfully, and all the while know the emptiness of unmet needs and desires? Yes, we know Elizabeth. Some days she did serve God cheerfully, until the pain intruded. Some days she was full of faith for God's provision in her life, until she started thinking about her childlessness. Some days she just went through the motions of living a godly life. Some days she had to battle gloom or despair or even anger with God. Some days she didn't even battle and just let all of the worst thoughts and feelings wash over her like an overflowing sewer. We know that because we, even the best and most spiritual of us, have done all of that ourselves.



