Life is a journey of many twists and turns, of joy and sorrow, of happiness and sadness – life is always enriched though, when we are doing It with the right people; people who we love, trust and respect, who in turn love, trust and respect us. It’s the relationships we hold closest to us that will define more clearly the course we will walk and the avenues we will venture in the journey of life.
Following on from part 1 of this set of posts, I want to look at a second type of person I believe we all absolutely need in our lives, if we are going to reach our God given potential in light of Proverbs 13:20 which says, ‘Walk with the wise and become wise, associate with fools and get into trouble’ Proverbs 13:20.
I believe one of the most important types of person we need to make sure we are walking with is somebody who will inspire, encourage and celebrate our dreams and successes – but more than that, someone who will do so without any motive or gain on their part.
Walt Disney once said that “…all of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
For me, reflecting on this personally, often times when I have had a dream that I have wanted to pursue in life, the only reason I have gone ahead and done so was because of the inspiration, encouragement and motivation of those around me who have simply wanted the best for me.
The second type of person(s) you absolutely need in your life is an ELIZABETH
Luke 1:41-45 says this…
“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 NIV
No big deal right? Wrong. Let me give you the context of this story, and as a little side note here, context in anything is massively, hugely important – you will miss so many things in scripture if you don’t first look through the lens and scope of the context it was written.
Mary was a young girl, engaged and pregnant, this isn’t unusual today but back in the time Mary lived this was SCANDALOUS…Even worse the person she was engaged too wasn’t the father! This was scandalous to the point where poor Mary would’ve been dragged on to the sofa of Jeremy Kyle whilst been booed and cussed at by the on-looking audience. With hindsight today, we know that Mary was in fact highly favoured and was chosen to to carry the messiah – she was blessed of God.
Mary escapes the whispers, the gossipers and those who smiled to her face yet were malicious behind her back, and takes off to visit her (much older) cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth, a godly upright woman married to a Pastor has been unable to conceive for many, many years – finally in a miraculous turn of events, she ends up conceiving! She is having a miracle baby in her old age (don’t linger to long on this *shiver*.
Here’s what I want you to see…
Mary turns up, young, unmarried and pregnant at the door of Elizabeth who after so many years has finally had her prayer answered and has become pregnant herself. The Bible tells us that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby in Elizabeth’s womb jumped for joy and Elizabeth extravagantly blesses Mary and her child, even above herself and the miracle baby she is carrying.
This is amazing, because Elizabeth’s natural and human nature could have kicked in and she could have actually felt quite threatened by the arrival of this young, radiant pregnant relative!
Who was Mary to turn up and steal Elizabeth’s moment, the moment she had been waiting for so long, the moment she had in the past shed so many tears over, the moment that had transformed the months, years, decades of hurt. Why would Mary choose to turn up now with all her drama, her fears for the future, and steal all the attention away from Elizabeth and her family? This was so unfair, so uncalled for and so unjust.
But that’s not what happened – that’s not what happened at all.
Elizabeth actually made herself subservient to Mary, a younger women, a woman for all intents and purposes who was pregnant outside of wedlock, she did something not only astonishing for us reading today but something hugely counter cultural. She wasn’t at all precious about having the limelight for herself, she wasn’t insecure in the blessing God had given Mary, even though it was greater than hers. She actually couldn’t have been more selfless and humble.
Elizabeth didn’t mock Mary, she affirmed her, she didn’t cuss her out in defence of her own blessing, sh honoured her, and without any side, without any envy that Marys child would be greater than the miracle child she herself carried, without any hint of a motive…she encouraged, blessed and she celebrated the dream and the fulfillment of the dream that was now growing inside of Mary.
Wow.
We all without exception need people like this around us. People who when we are unsure and uncertain in the dreams God has given us will empower, strengthen and encourage us to pursue it with everything we have. More so, WE need to to be people like this for others! Not being consumed only with what God is doing in our lives, but also with what God is doing in the life of others – even when it looks like those others could surpass us.
Let’s take a moment to look at the opposite end of the same spectrum. Here we Joseph with his Prada coat of many colours, innocently but perhaps stupidly sharing his dreams of his family bowing before him, to those closest to him – his brothers (see Genesis 37). What happened?
When Joseph shared the dream that God had given him to those closest to him, his brothers, the response could not have been more different to Elizabeth’s – wanted to KILL HIM! They were deceptive and cunning, they drew him to a place he thought he was safe, with people he thought he was safe with, but as soon as he turned his back, it was game over – he was chucked down a well and then sold into slavery.
Haters are always gonna hate – we know that…but sometimes you won’t spot the hater because sometimes they’re your brother and your friend…after church when they’ve patted you on the back and you go home for dinner they turn to the next person and have you for dinner.
If you share your dreams with the wrong people, those who aren’t secure in themselves, it won’t belong before they are trying to sell you out. When God starts to pour out favour in your life it is amazing what jealousy and insecurity will do to those around you, sometimes those closest to you.
Be so careful that those you share your dreams with have a Spirit of Elizabeth and not one of Joseph’s brothers. Be so careful and not too quick to share your God given dreams with just anyone. Make sure the person you share with will encourage, uplift and support you without motive or envy.
