Her

I woke up this morning thinking about her.  How she must have felt.  Wondering if she was scared.  Thinking of how excited she had to have been.  Scared...possibly.  Excited...definitely.  Apprehensive...more than likely.  I bet she thought...How in the WORLD am I going to tell him?  How in the WORLD am I going to explain this to everyone?  Will they believe me?  Will they laugh at me?  Will they hate me?    I can't believe this is happening to me!

The Bible doesn't give us a lot of details...just that she pondered these things in her heart.  I would love to have known what was going through her mind at that time, and just what all that pondering included.  Times were WAY different then...and I am sure the next 9 months...possibly the rest of her life went nothing like she had dreamed or planned. Not in a bad way, just in a different way. I am sure there were those that claimed to be her friends that now shunned her.  Maybe those that were already jealous of her that reveled in her "shame".  We do know that she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  I think it was because she needed the support and love of someone who believed in her.  Someone who would not judge her.  Someone who loved God enough to believe in the miracle growing inside her.

There are times life, when we are falsely accused.  Times when people who claim to be our friends shun us.  Times when those who already don't like us are looking for a reason to kick us while we are down.  And maybe, like her, we have done absolutely nothing to deserve the judgment and accusations flung our way.  Maybe our intentions were completely pure and right...and we are just doing our best to serve the Lord...and now it seems the whole world is against us.  Then like her, we should ponder these things in our heart...we should not lash out in anger.  We should take our hurts and our fears to the Lord.  And if God puts an Elizabeth in our life, we can spend time wrapped in her loving, supportive arms.  And we should carry on.  Continue in the work of the Lord.  Keep doing what we do for the Lord's sake.
 
What if she had caved in?  What if she had not been strong enough to do what the Lord asked of her?    Where would we all be now? 

God has great plans for all of us.  We cannot cave in.  We have to carry out the work He has for us to do.  So for our precious Lord, and for those that come behind us,  let's do that work with the right spirit and attitude, regardless of what comes our way!