Transcript

Erin Davis: Welcome back to the Women of the Bible podcast. I am Erin Davis, and I’m joined by some dear friends of mine, and we are talking about Elizabeth. I’m going to have you introduce yourselves. Last time you told me your favorite cereal. This time why don’t you tell me you favorite place to go on vacation.

I’m Erin Davis. I think I’m mountains, but I feel beach sometimes. But I’m going to say mountains.

Asheritah: I’m Asheritah, and I’m going to say mountains, too. If I were to pick one place, it would be the Alps.

Erin: Have you been to the Alps?

Asheritah: We went there on our honeymoon. It was gorgeous.

All: Wow!!

Erin: Did you see, “The Hills Are Alive”?

Asheritah: I did! I was great!

Erin: That sounds lovely.

Alejandra Slemin: My name is Alejandra, and I love the beach.

Erin: You’re from the beach, right?

Alejandra: I’m from the beach. It was my backyard.

Jaquelle Crowe: My name is Jaquelle, and I’m from Canada, so I also love the mountains, where it is cold.

Asheritah: They are cold mountains?

Jaquelle: Yes, but I love snow.

Erin: We are talking about Elizabeth. The story is found in just one chapter in the Bible—Luke 1, and it’s not even all of Luke 1. So she doesn’t get a ton of real estate in Scripture, but I think she has a lot to teach us about facing disappointment—which is universal to every man, every woman, every child.

In this week of the Bible study, we looked at the fact that women tend to be fixers. Any confessions that you like to fix? Not things around the house. But what hings are you chronically fixing with your kids?

Asheritah: Don’t hit your sister.

Erin: We get that a lot at our house because it is all boys. There’s a lot of, “Don’t hit your brother.”

Alejandra: Don’t pick your nose.

Erin: That’s a good thing to fix.

How about at your house, I have to get everybody out the door with all their things. “Did you get your backpack? Shoes? (Believe it or not sometimes we get out the house without shoes!) Glasses?” I’m just trying to fix it.

Alejandra: But is that wrong? I hope your children have shoes.

Erin: It’s something the Lord has put into women that can be good.

Alejandra: We can take it too far, but there is a little bit of, “We need to fix them.”

Erin: Girls, if I ever have spinach in my teeth and I’m with you all, I want you to fix that! That is the right thing to do.

So I think there are times when fixing things are good, but as we are looking at Elizabeth this week, I’m really struck by the fact that sometimes, maybe always, you need to get out of the way and let God do the fixing in other people’s lives.

We’re looking at Elizabeth this week. And her husband, Zechariah, has this experience with an angel. And what happens to Zechariah? Do you remember the story?

Alejandra: He loses his voice.

Erin: He loses his voice. He is struck down mute. So the angel Gabriel comes to Zechariah. He tells Zechariah that his prayer has been answered and that they are going to conceive a child.

So this is how we know that Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying to the Lord, because it says in the text that “his prayers have been answered.”

Zechariah just has a moment . . . a moment of doubt . . . a moment of hesitation, and he is struck mute.

I’d want to fix that, wouldn’t you?

Alejandra: You were in the temple where it is nice and holy, and now you are coming home and not saying a …