Come to a place of comfort! → Alice V. Walters

El Shaddai, our Heavenly Father! You have seen my deepest longing, and you have answered my prayer. In your great love, as a parent for His child, you have listened to the heart of your daughter. You have come near and blessed me.

Can my spirit praise your name any more, El Shaddai, or be filled with greater joy? I do not know how to thank you for the gift you have placed within me. I do not deserve your grace. Help me nurture and encourage this child to be all you are creating him to be.

13 But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John. 14 You will be very happy, and many others will share your joy over his birth. 15 He will be a great man for the Lord…
16 “John will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is also old.”
19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, the one who always stands ready before God. He sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news…”
24 Later, Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth became pregnant. So she did not go out of her house for five months. She said, 25 “Look what the Lord has done for me! He decided to help me. Now people will stop thinking there is something wrong with me.”
Luke 1: 13-16, 18-19, 24-25 ERV

Dearest Reader, has there been a prayer deep within you that has lain dormant on your heart for longer than you care to think about? Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, knew how that felt.

Like Sarah, in ages past, Elizabeth longed for a child. My own mother’s heart knows what it’s like to yearn for my arms to hold the sweet solace only a babe can fill.

For Elizabeth and Sarah, barrenness was not only nurturing with no place to go. It went way beyond the emotional and physical need of wanting a child. It was a social disgrace. Not having a child in their times and cultures was a tremendous stigma. A stigma that seemingly told the world that you were not enough.

Is there anyone out there who hasn’t felt that you were not enough at some point? In a relationship, a class, a job… Maybe you’re in that hateful place right now.

Please listen closely, Dear Reader. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. No matter how silent, how dark the room of your heart is, Jesus is there with you. He knows your hurt and longing, and He loves you. He longs for you to lean in to the place where you will find comfort and so much more. All Jesus asks of you is to “Come”.