Being A Good Team Mate May Require You To Be Their Elizabeth

As a basketball coach, trainer, and mentor, what breaks my heart the most is when athletes quit because they don't want to handle the smoke that stands between them and their goals. 

It saddens me and moves me to tears because I know that if they choose to be tougher than their tough times, they have enough God-given talent and ability to overcome any smoke that any haters on earth or devil in hell throw at them. But, I also know by giving up prematurely, they have made it much more difficult for those close to them who are coming up behind them. 

On the other hand, if they were to hang in with hope and fight through the pain and shame, they would succeed and, more importantly, be someone's much-needed Elizabeth. Every uNderdog needs an Elizabeth to stand tall and push through to comfort and convict them as they apply their God-given abilities to produce miraculous results. 

In the book of Luke, Elizabeth was old, had no kids, and was believed to be too advanced to birth a child. Her never having children caused her great shame and pain.

 Much like He did through Sarah in the Old Testament, God performed a miracle pregnancy through Elizabeth. Elizabeth would go on to birth John the Baptist, who was "great in God's eyes even before his birth." 

Later in Luke, Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, visits Mary, the virgin. His visit was to assure her that the Lord was with her and that she was chosen to give birth to the Son of Man, Jesus. 

As Gabriel gave her the news that she was going to miraculously birth a Miracle, Jesus, she was terrified. To convince and convict her that the Lord was with her and working through her, Gabriel shared with her the miracle God was doing through her relative, Elizabeth.

God had performed a similar miracle through Sarah back in the day, but Gabriel did not mention that. Instead, with intention, he referenced the miracle performed by one that was close to her, Elizabeth. 

After sharing her homegirl's miracle, God's messenger, Gabriel, told Mary that God's word will never fail. The combination of her seeing what God was doing for her friend, Elizabeth, and Gabriel sharing that God don't miss, it was enough to remove any fear or doubt from Mary. She went on to birth a miracle that had never been seen before and has not and will not be replicated after, in birthing Jesus despite being a virgin. 

As mentioned, Elizabeth's journey had a purpose: to endure the stages of pain and shame to eventually birth a miracle that would inspire her relative Mary to push forward and be used to forever change the world.

If you are going through the smoke, and it's so tough that you are considering throwing in the towel, don't! As mentioned earlier, I need you to be tougher than your tough times, and do you know why? Because your ability to endure the pain and shame before God performs His miracles through you is your Elizabeth moment! Our Elizabeth moments are not for us but done through us to provide our teammates, friends, family, co-workers, and social media followers with an example. Our Elizabeth-inspired model will fuel them to keep going with courage and conviction and not give up on their miraculous God prematurely. 

Keep going, y'all, God is using you, and He is with you and through the Holy Spirit, is in you. I'm so proud of us, and we should all be honored that God sees past our flaws and failures to allow us to be Elizabeth's in the lives of those we ❤️.

Power 💭:

*Behind every Mary, there is an Elizabeth.

*Have you recognized and appreciated the Elizabeth-like people that came before you? Those people, who, if not for them, you would not have had the courage and hope to push through? Have you expressed your appreciation for them? If not, there is no time like the present!

*Are you accepting your assignment as God's chosen trailblazer so that you can be used as someone's Elizabeth, so God can refer to your journey as their blueprint so that they can push through full hope and conviction, like Mary as she gave birth to a Miracle?

🔗 Tap In ➡️ and read `Luke 1: 1 - 38