Mary spent much of her pregnancy with her cousin, Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. (Luke 1:5-25, 39) God’s miraculous intervention in enabling Elizabeth and Zechariah to conceive is an echo of many other miraculous births in the Bible (e.g. Gen 21, 1 Sam 1) and a reminder to all who are desperate to conceive that God is able to do so much more than we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20).
It’s ironic that whilst so many women do not want to be pregnant and seek abortions to end their pregnancies, many couples are desperate to have children, but cannot because of infertility problems. There are different options available for those struggling with infertility, but some (e.g. IVF) may not seem suitable to Christians because of ethical concerns. Life again works with couples struggling to conceive (see http://lifefertilitycare.co.uk/infertility/ for more information), seeking to support and help. It’s good to read their success stories (http://lifefertilitycare.co.uk/about-life-fertilitycare/aims-and-objectives/) and to know that there are those in medicine who are seeking to help such couples. Not every infertile couple will be able to have children naturally, but many will go on to consider other ways to nurture children, including fostering and adoption. It’s good when God calls people in this way and is yet another reminder that He sets people in families (Ps 68:6).
The Christmas story reminds us, however, that we serve a God of miracles. As we prepare for Christmas, a miracle of truly stupendous proportions, may we have the faith to believe that what He has done for others, He can do for us too – surprising us with the ‘marvellous deeds’ we read about in the Bible, astonishing us with the ‘immeasurably more’ that only God can do.
