Faith. Purpose. Relevance.

The Bible says in Proverbs 17: 17 that

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Even as Born-again Christians, we cannot deny that there are times when we are faced with challenges, controversies, and doubt; times when we are down; periods which the bible refers to as the day(s) of adversity, (prov. 24:10).
However, I have noticed that one of the reasons why we faint in such periods is because we have not identified the brother that is born for our adversities. I have discovered that to every person in life is assigned, by God, certain individuals who are made to form a support base, a reservoir of Gods grace when we need it most. And that is where Elizabeth comes in.

ELIZABETH WHO?

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. For with God nothing shall be impossible . (Luke 1: 30, 31, 37).

Angel Gabriel’s words to young, inexperienced Mary must have been shocking, to say the least. Nothing ever prepared her for this message. That is why the angel directed her to the one who will encourage, nourish advice and help her -Elizabeth.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren (v 6).

There are several examples of Elizabeths in the Bible.

* Aaron was the tangible reassurance that Moses needed to fulfill God's call.

* Barnabbas was used by the Holy Ghost to give Paul a good head start-

* Jonathan was able to see beyond common sense that David was to be the next king.

What do these people have in common? All of them were persons who helped their friends fulfill their destinies, their calling, their purposes in life.

Note however, that not every friend is an Elizabeth, (Mary had many friends in Nazareth), though an Elizabeth is definitely a friend. That means whoever your Elizabeth is, he or she is hidden somewhere among your acquaintances.

HIDDEN MINES, (GOLD MINES THAT IS).

In his book titled, The Law of Recognition, Mike Murdock states, "everything you need in your life is already in your life merely waiting your recognition of it".
I began discovering my Elizabeths when I started asking myself why certain people around me act the way they do.
One such person is an older friend of mine. Anytime I have some weird ideas going on in my head, (and I do think weird very often), I go to him to tell him about it. He would look musingly and say,
"when do you plan to start?"
"Maybe in three years time", I would reply.
"How about now? I think I need some of what you just said, how much will it cost me?"
Actually, he does not need it at all. But he is always the first customer to every venture I take.
Another friend of mine acts even more strangely. Anytime he meets me, he tells me I’m the greatest genius he has ever met and that and that he has never met another with greater potential. And before I try to say anything, he proceeds to tell me why he thinks so.
My observation of their unusual tendencies was the key to the revelation I got of the Elizabeth principle and one major thing I discovered was that, not recognizing these persons could be a disaster.
 

Whatever is not recognized is not celebrated; whatever is not celebrated will soon pass away - Mike Murdock.

So here are a few tips to help you discover:

*Elizabeths are exited about your presence -I sure would like everybody to welcome me as enthusiastically as Elizabeth did Mary. Elizabeths are always excited to see you.  (NOTE: not all of them will show this excitement outwardly).

* Your Elizabeth is concerned about your dreams and your destiny.

* Elizabeths have total, implicit faith in your potentials. Nobody, not even you, can dissuade them from their belief in what you .can do. It is a God-given gift used to wake you up to your potentials.

* An Elizabeth will bend backwards because of you. They will do whatever they can to make sure you are comfortable. I know of a guy who will leave off studying for an exam just to help his friend out on an issue no mater how trivial.

* Elizabeths sense your enemies and detractors long before you do. It is only natural; they act as a covering for you and should be able to discern unfriendly bodies.

*Your enemy automatically becomes your Elizabeths enemy. This beautiful phenomenon leads to a situation where your enemy finds himself fighting, not one, but two persons. (Ecc. 4:9, 10).

* An Elizabeth will invest his/her time on you.

* An Elizabeth will invest his/her resources on you.

* An Elizabeth can be willing to die for you/your cause.(Jn 15:13). There are many symbolic instances when these happen; a job, a relationship, family, etc. an Elizabeth is wiling to lay down that which he/she treasures most just to have you fulfill your cause.

* An Elizabeth can be a member of the other gender. However, they must be distinguished from a future spouse. God’s chosen spouse for you will be all of the above AND MORE. You must be careful tough; because of their unique role in your life, an Elizabeth can sweep you off your feet without even trying to.

* There is a difference between an Elizabeth and a mentor. Samuel was David’s mentor, Jonathan was his Elizabeth.

* There is a difference between your regular friends and your Elizabeth.

LOOK WHO'S TALKING:

a man that had friends must show himself friendly, (prov. 18:24).

Before you pick up your binoculars to start searching for your pot of gold, stop and assume it is your friend that is reading this piece. Will their minds rove over to you? Will they proclaim "ah? That’s him (her) he’s talking about." You must realize that you are also here on this earth to be someone’s Elizabeth, We will discuss that in detail next month by the grace of God.

5 STEPS TO TOUCHDOWN
So let us conclude with five things you should do about your Elizabeths.

1- Discover them

2- Pray for them

3- Affirm/appreciate them this does not mean you plan to buy them a car; they will get offended if there is a perceived attempt to "pay" them for their favors. So be creative.

4- Avoid exploiting them remember that their unusual altruistic tendencies are God-given and as such we would one day account for how we used it.

5- Recognize that they are there for a season Elizabeths are meant to take care of you in a particular situation and at a particular point in time. They rarely last a lifetime. The biblical Elizabeth left the scene as soon as Jesus was born.

God Bless.