Secluded with Favor
Luke 1:24-25
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said, “The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.”
The reason for Elizabeth’s seclusion is not revealed in Scripture, nor can it be properly assumed from customs and traditions. Perhaps, she wanted to take extra measures to care for herself since she was older and not risk miscarriage. We know she gave God the glory for her pregnancy, and I can’t help but feel she just wanted to isolate herself from the cares of the world that might try to redirect her focus or cause her to doubt.
When God looks upon you with favor, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks at that point. God’s favor and blessing are proof that He is at work in your life, and He has a plan for you. He can shut the mouths of the critics and naysayers with one intervention of favor that cannot be denied as His personal handiwork. If He grants you favor, why would you want to fellowship with the world when you can fellowship with Him? I really think Elizabeth just wanted to spend time with God as she praised Him for taking away her disgrace. Nothing else was important to her then.
Elizabeth was older and must certainly have thought it was too late for her to have a child. She may even have resumed to carrying her shame forever as she continued to worship God. She is proof, however, that we are never too old to receive God’s favor upon our lives. She wasn’t unfruitful; she was merely a late bloomer. God can still use us in mighty ways when we’ve passed what we consider to be the prime of life.
Seclude yourself from the world today, and just seek God’s face. Ask Him to look with favor upon you again and to make your days fruitful and productive. Shut the door to the cares of this world, and don’t listen to the complaints and critics. There is yet a bloom in you to come forth, and God’s favor can draw it out.
Have a blessed day!