“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”~ Luke 1:45
My heart was pounding as I walked into the social hall of our church, clutching my new Women’s Devotional Bible. I was going to learn about the history of the Bible. I thought that would be a good place to start as a new believer. I sat down at a table, petrified.
“What if I have to look up something in my Bible?”
Panicked and overwhelmed, I felt the urge to run back to my car.
I have often wondered if Mary felt that way when the angel told her she was going to conceive a son by the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing the news, Mary rushed off to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant in her advanced age. On the journey from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea, did the young adolescent girl agonize over how she would tell Elizabeth about her own pregnancy?
Immediately after Mary greeted her, Elizabeth blessed the young girl as the mother of her Lord. The story Mary undoubtedly rehearsed over and over in her mind to tell Elizabeth was not necessary. Elizabeth already knew.
I am struck by the tenderness of the heart of God, who knew that a young, frightened girl would need the encouragement and support of an older confidant.
God didn’t just send any woman to encourage Mary. He sent her a kindred spirit. Someone who had also experienced the miraculous hand of God in an unexpected pregnancy. Someone who understood her circumstances. Someone who shared her same fears. Someone who understood the true favor of the Most High God on their lives.
Have you ever met someone and almost instantly your souls were knit together?
That evening, around a small table in our church social hall, God introduced me to a sweet lady with a beautiful heart. Barbara saw something in me I did not understand at the time. Our souls connected. God brought a kindred spirit to a young, frightened women.
Through the years, Barbara has poured love, encouragement, and support into a tender young heart that has grown to love Jesus more than life itself. She was the first one to tell me I should write. She saw my gifting long before I would acknowledge it.
Kindred souls affirm our purpose.
Barbara gently nudged me in her own sweet way. She gave me a journal to encourage me to write. About a month later, she said, “I’ll be happy to buy another if you are finished with that one!”
Kindred souls challenge us to live beyond our own limitations and trust in the God who is HUGE!
Our journeys of faith are so much richer and deeper when we are blessed by kindred souls who walk alongside with us, through laughter and tears, joy and sorrow, wholeness and brokenness.
Ultimately, kindred souls speak blessing and purpose over us.
Has God sent a kindred sister into your life? If not, pray for one.
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