Today in my devotion time with the Lord, I spent some time in the word reading Luke 1:1-25. This passage is about Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John The baptist. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story of these two and the news about the coming of John the baptist I will give you a quick recap.
So this man Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth are two pretty old people who love God. Elizabeth longed to have a child but was not able because she was barren. And then one day Zechariah was visited by the angel Gabriel and was told that his wife Elizabeth would have a son and his name would be John. In verse 18 Zechariah responded to the angel by saying "How shall I now this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years?" Pretty much saying to Gabriel look man, my wife is old how in the world do you expect her to have a baby, and because of Zechariah's disbelief in what God had just promised him, he was silenced. Zechariah was not able to speak until the birth of John the baptist.
I learned a few things from this story that I wanted to share with you!
Let's start with Elizabeth. I am positive that Elizabeth felt a void from the lack of children she was unable to conceive. I know people who are in their 30's who have trouble conceiving a child and the devastation that it causes. How much more devastated Elizabeth must have been to be barren and on top of that now she is old. BUT even though, even though, Elizabeth had given up on the prayer that she might have a child, she didn't give up on God. In verse 6 & 7 it tells us "6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 but they had no child.." We have to be like Elizabeth, we can't give up on God just because he hasn't given us what we've asked for, we have to love and serve him in our storm.
Now on to Zechariah. I want you to think about the most repetitious prayer that you have prayed in your life. You see there is no doubt that Zechariah had prayed and prayed for his wife to be blessed with a child, but at this stage in Elizabeth's life it would have been some sort of miracle for her to become pregnant. For Pete's sake she was old and I am sure they had tried every which way to have a baby, but it just never happened. It seemed impossible. But one day this beautiful angel show's up on the scene with a promise from God that their miracle was on it's way, but even then Zechariah was in disbelief. He questioned Gabriel he wanted to know how he could be sure, Gabriel's words just weren't enough. Because of Zechariah's disbelief he was silenced!!!
Can you imagine?? You just had a face to face conversation with a magnificent angel and found out that your wife who you thought couldn't have children was going to have a son, and you can't even tell anyone. You are silenced. I don't know about you, but as a girl who loves to talk, I would have went bonkers!! Just think about all conversations Zechariah missed out on because of his disbelief. The bible tells in verse 20 "And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words..." Until his miracle was fulfilled he missed out.
Don't be like Zechariah, don't be silenced. If God has promised something to you and you are in a season of waiting, I want to challenge you. Please don't miss out on the joy God has in store for you while you wait. I want to challenge you to wait with anxious expectation. Wait with the belief that the God you are petitioning is great and powerful and IS capable of giving you the miracle. Don't be silenced, just believe.
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