Waiting: Day 18

Wednesday December 17, 2025

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her,

and they rejoiced with her.

Luke 1:58, English Standard Version

Some things are meant to be experienced together. Grief and loss and trials are best faced with caring people surrounding us, supporting us, even carrying us. Likewise, the great celebrations of life are not solo affairs.

We gather a crowd for a wedding, for a graduation, for a baptism. No team wants to win a championship in an empty stadium. Candidates hold Victory Parties, brides have Wedding Showers, and everybody who catches a big fish wants to show it to someone!

And so it is with the birth of a child. Families pile into the Waiting Room, and a steady stream of admirers vie to get their hands on the new bundle of joy. Elizabeth’s neighbors and family surround the happy couple and rejoice with them. That’s certainly to be expected, but there’s a little something extra with this party.

Those folks know that they’re celebrating a wondrous act of Almighty God. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Zechariah and Elizabeth, loved and respected as they are, just weren’t meant to have a child.

But “the Lord had shown great mercy to her.” The impossible had taken place. God had shown up in a way that didn’t fit their understanding of the way things are. Celebrate! Rejoice!

The Apostle Paul tells us, in Romans 12:5, to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” That’s a good directive for us in this season of waiting. Who out there needs you to walk beside them in sadness? Who needs you to be happy for them? Happy with them? Your being there might just be the very best gift they’ll receive this Christmas.