She Knows

What a gift it is to have a friend who knows. One who really and truly understands what we are going through and just spending some time with them can make the troubles of the world seem smaller.

Elizabeth was that type of friend. After years of being barren she understood what it felt like to have people gossip about her situation and judge her based on their limited knowledge. So who better than Elizabeth could God arrange for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to spend time with when she found herself pregnant and unmarried.

From the moment of their first meeting Elizabeth knew what an incredible blessing Mary was carrying in her womb. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:41-45)

Can you imagine the relief and peace that Mary must have felt at such a greeting? What a loving gift the Lord gave her in Elizabeth. A woman who was filled with the Holy Spirit and could see beyond the worldly view of Mary’s circumstances with eyes of compassion and understanding.

When you look back at trials that you have endured and situations that were less than ideal, can you see them as opportunities to help someone else who is experiencing the same? The purpose of those circumstances didn’t end when they were completed. You are now better equipped to help someone else who is facing the same giants that you have overcome through the help and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.

Whose pain and suffering can you help relieve with a kind word of understanding, a hug, an invitation to share what they are going through? Who is God leading to your doorstep to receive some grace from someone who knows what it’s like to receive it?

Be Intentional about sharing the love and comfort with others that you have received.

Praises & Prayers

Father, thank you for the many encouragers that You have sent my way over the years. I pray that I will also be one who can love and encourage others. Open my eyes to see the many opportunities that await a word of kindness and respond. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Messages from His Word

Galatians 6:2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.