Her name was Elizabeth, but you might know her best as the mother of John the Baptist.  However, long before she was John’s mom, she was a mommy wannabe. Just another barren woman who wanted to have a child but couldn’t.

And without a child, she had no purpose. It was a disgrace for a woman to be barren in her time. People looked down on her. They wondered what was wrong with her.

Back then, there were no fertility specialists to turn to. No tests to be run. No treatments available. The only things one could do were pray and try to avoid the gossip. So no matter how much Elizabeth prayed and pleaded with God, it still didn’t keep others from talking about her behind her back and wondering what kind of hidden sin she had in her life that kept God from blessing her with a child.

But she didn’t have any hidden sin. No deep, dark secrets. No skeletons in her closet. In fact, various versions of the Bible describe both her and her husband as upright, righteous, and blameless. Her husband, Zechariah, was even a priest.

And we know it doesn’t get much holier than working for God, right?

Nevertheless, they remained childless, and meanwhile, Elizabeth’s biological clock kept ticking. It ticked and tocked until they were both “well along in years.” Time passed. Too much time, in fact, and they had to face the growing reality that they’d missed their window to become parents.

For reasons she would never understand, God chose to withhold her heart’s desire from her, and there was nothing she could do but accept that her dream of having a child was over.

Do you have a dream in your heart as well? A prayer that is constantly on your lips? A longing that grows stronger with each breath you take?

Has God chosen to withhold it from you? Do you close your eyes at night and wonder why? Or why not? Or why not now?

Before Elizabeth became a mom, she was an empty, childless, old woman who had probably written off her dreams altogether.

She didn’t know what we know now. That God was about to thunder into her life and not only fulfill her deepest dreams, but completely rock her world.

Q: What dream or prayer do you have that’s constantly on your lip?