Have you ever felt like disappointment was inevitable?

Maybe you were eight years old with your heart set on finding a bike by the tree on Christmas morning but deep down you knew your parents couldn’t afford it. Perhaps the moment came later—as a teenager hoping a crush would look your way or as a young woman with her sights set on a hard-to-get job. It could be that you’ve waited for a spouse or a child, and at this point, it feels easier to assume you’ll be left wanting than to withstand the agony of unfulfilled hopes.

In an Advent devotional, Dorena Williamson directs those of us who are yearning to the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1. After decades of infertility, Williamson writes, “the hope of having a child ebbed away and felt like a burden of ‘disgrace’ (Luke 1:25).”

Despite their utter disappointment and sadness, the couple remained obedient to God. Eventually, an elderly Elizabeth became pregnant with John the Baptist.

“The faithfulness of this couple unfolded into a life-giving season of joy as God’s promise came to fulfillment through their child, the forerunner of the Messiah,” writes Williamson. “But as we enter into their story, there is also no skipping over their decades of infertility. We enter into this painful part of their lives too. For in their long sorrow, we see their strong faith.”

This story offers us comfort in our own seasons of waiting. The ultimate provision of a child gives us hope, to be sure, but that’s not the only sign of God’s goodness in the story. May we take heart in God’s nearness to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their decades of waiting, even as we pray for the desires of our hearts to be fulfilled.