Daughters of Grace Series: Elizabeth

Last week we continued a study from the Daily Grace Co. called Daughters of Grace. We talked about Gomer, her story, characteristics, and what we can learn from her life. This week we are talking about Elizabeth. This is the first woman we are studying from the New Testament! Elizabeth's story can be found in Luke chapter 1:5-80. 

If you would like a link to purchase the study we are reading from, click here. You may also head over to our Facebook Page and watch the live video from 3/23/22 if you would like to just listen to what the book reads and follow along. 

1. What do we learn about God and His character in the life of Elizabeth?

This story shows how powerful God is and how His plans always come to fruition and are always good. Once again, we see that God is faithful to the promises He has made and uses unlikely people to accomplish His mission. Elizabeth was old, past her child bearing years and yet God still uses her for such an important purpose! I love how God teaches Zechariah how powerful He is and how He is not to be doubted through the miracle of Zechariah not being able to speak until John is born. 

2. What character qualities, positive or negative, do we see demonstrated in Elizabeth's life?

• Older- we know from the story that Elizabeth is older in age and past normal childbearing years. This isn't really a part of her "character" but I thought it was important to remember this piece of the miracle in Luke!
• Faithful- Elizabeth clearly had faith because despite her old age, she believed that God would bless her with a child and that the child would be used to do important things.
• Grateful- she immediately is thankful to the Lord for blessing her with a child. Elizabeth says in Luke 1:25, "in these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people". She is so grateful for the miracle baby that God gave her!
• Blessed- Both Mary and Elizabeth can be called blessed for their roles in this story! They believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to them. 
• Obedient- When Elizabeth finally has the baby, she tells everyone that His name is John. She obeyed what God had told her and Zechariah to name the baby boy. She also knew that he would have very specific purpose during his life and was prepared to help John honor that purpose.
• Submissive- Elizabeth demonstrates a small moment of submissiveness when she says that the baby will be called John and everyone looks to Zechariah to see what he will say regarding the baby's name. Elizabeth doesn't argue and try to explain that God has told her the name of the child, she just waits for Zechariah to get a writing tablet and affirm the name of the child. 

3. What can I learn from Elizabeth's story that I can apply to my own life?

• God provides. It is obvious that God provided for both Elizabeth and for Mary in this story by blessing them each with babies that would serve such important purpose. But I think it is sometimes overlooked how God also provided support for these mamas by connecting the cousins in such a similar situation so that they had someone to talk to. Being miraculously pregnant was probably scary but Mary and Elizabeth had one another to lean on during this time.
• Rejoice for others instead of getting caught up in jealousy-
• God will always keep His promises. We don't know if Elizabeth and Zechariah lived long enough to see God's promises be fulfilled but they knew it would still happen because God is faithful and they trusted God to continue to be. Our lives are often the same way. We don't always understand everything that God is doing, but we know that we can trust Him to be faithful.