The part that spoke to me was Luke 1: 11-14 & 18-20
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Then I read Luke 1:30-32, 34, 38
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
This is what struck me! Zechariah was skeptical of God's plan for Him. He wondered, "How can this really happen?" And isn't that just like so many of us today? I know it's very much like me! Just as with this new church we are helping plant and Andy is the Associate Pastor of. There are so many times when I'm like, "Really? Really, God?" Even when we left the church we were in.. I thought, "Really God? This is really what you want??" I wasn't fully trusting God.. and I still struggle with that from time to time. But if you look at Zechariah's story.. and truly think about it. His wife had been barren for many years. They were heartbroken over no children and suddenly an angel comes to tell them that she is going to have a baby!! Think of the excitement! Think of the joy! I bet when they found out she was pregnant they wanted to shout it from the rooftops! But Zechariah didn't get that privilege. I know when I was pregnant I couldn't wait to tell people! I was so excited to get their hug & embrace, encouragement, love, and excitement with me over the new baby we would add to our family! Because of Zechariah's skeptic heart and non-trusting thoughts he lost out on a great, great privilege. In turn, he missed out on getting to share the joy of their pregnancy with others and receive their excitement.
Then you get to Mary who completely accepted what Gabriel had to say! She asked how it will happen, but she was never skeptical that it would happen! She trusted in Gabriel and she trusted that God would do what he said he would do.
All of this really made me question in my own life. How many times am I skeptical toward God's will? How many times in my life do I forfeit blessings over my skepticism? How often do I not follow God's plan for my future and in turn cost myself much joy?
Our God loves us! He would never want to take our blessings from us. It's so often our selfishness that costs us such joy! So, it's my new prayer that I will ask God to lead me and that I will trust where ever He takes me! I know He won't take me anywhere that I don't need to be. He has me where He wants me so that He can give me such blessings.... For that, I'm thankful!!
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