Mary and Elizabeth: The Power of Finding Another Woman Who Understands

Finding others who understand what we are facing is priceless and often hard to find. But God can bring that person into our lives. They may already be there and we don’t realize it, or life circumstances create a connection we never expected.

There is a story in the Bible about two women whose lives were intertwined, even more so after a visit from the angel Gabriel: Elizabeth and Mary. Their relationship paints a picture of the beauty that comes when God places another in our lives to rely on.

When we first met Elizabeth, she was no longer a young woman. She was unable to bear children and was well past the years when she could even hope. The heartbreak, disappointment, and eventual acceptance had already resided in her heart. Then appeared Gabriel.

Fulfilling Prophecies Against All Odds

As Zechariah performed his duties in the temple, the angel appeared and announced that Zechariah and Elizabeth’s lives would change: In their old age, they would bear a child. And not just any child, but the prophet who would announce the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah who had been spoken of centuries before. Zechariah’s doubt led to losing his ability to speak until that child was born.

Elizabeth’s reaction was quite different. She rejoiced at the news of her miraculous child. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” Then, she went into hiding for five months.

You can imagine why. The questions that would be asked and the skepticism that would come her way were probably something she didn’t want—others who could rob her joy and insert doubt.

Then Gabriel appeared again to a young virgin named Mary, who was betrothed but not yet married. She was an easily overlooked girl in a town of little value. Yet God viewed her differently: “The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'” God chose her to bear his son.

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” He gave her the answers she needed and then sent her directly to the home of her cousin, Elizabeth. While much older than Mary, Elizabeth was the one who would understand.

As Mary arrived at Elizabeth and Zechariah’s home, the baby Elizabeth was carrying leaped with joy. Recognizing the mother of his Savior, this baby knew who had entered his family’s home: the Savior who would be announced by the prophet Elizabeth was carrying.

The Power in Finding Another Woman Who Understands

I am sure there were many conversations between the two women, a few revealed in scripture, and likely many more. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. They shared their joy, their burdens, and their lives. Above all, I believe they spoke with each other about what only the two of them were experiencing—miracles that would come in the form of their children.

John, Elizabeth’s son, the greatest prophet ever to live, was conceived when human understanding could not explain it. Elizabeth was too old; it was impossible.

Mary, a virgin who had never been with a man, conceived a son, Jesus. He was the very son of God whose purpose was foretold but not often understood, a mystery yet to be revealed.

God chose these unlikely women. Nothing about them made them special, at least in the eyes of others. Yet their sons would impact the world in ways neither mother could fully understand.

But what they could experience in their three months together was the knowledge of their shared experience. Understanding that the sons they bore would not only do something special, but encounter trouble because of that.

They also knew others would have many opinions about their pregnancies and the lives their sons would lead. They would be faced with ridicule, condemnation, and unrealistic expectations. They would also have those who rejoiced with them. But they needed to be prepared to face whatever lay ahead for both them and their sons.

God gave them each other. Although we don’t see it in scripture, I believe they would have tried to spend more time together because their hearts would have been forever joined in heartbreak and hope.

Their lives with their sons were rich but different from those of other mothers because of the path each child was to walk. Elizabeth probably would not have lived to see her son’s death, but Mary did. The unlikely lives these men grew to lead were unlike others.

These two women were given the task of raising these boys to launch them into their purpose. God created the connection between them because he knew they needed one another.

We need those women who understand us, whose life experiences mirror ours today. And God will provide those women for us, too.

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Learn more about the powerful shift that happens when women come together: Strong Women Are Stronger Together—Here’s How You Can Help – 228