Gaze Upon Jesus: Meet Elizabeth, Kinswoman of Mary

Elizabeth, the kinswoman of Mary, was living a simple life in a small town in the hill country of Judea when suddenly her life became a series of amazing surprises:

• Her husband came back from a routine trip to Jerusalem unable to speak after an encounter with an angel

• After resigning herself to never having a child, she suddenly became pregnant

• Her young kinswoman from Nazareth appears at her door and her child leaps inside her as the knowledge that Mary is the mother of the long-awaited Messiah suddenly overwhelms her

That’s a lot to take in!

We all experience the unexpected in our lives — some joyful and some not. But all those unexpected and perhaps unwelcome events can, if we let them, lead us closer to God. Perhaps next time life surprises us, we can remember Elizabeth and her faithfulness in accepting God’s plan in her life with grace and trust.