March 4, 2010, Luke 1

Key Verse:

“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 proper time.” 

(Luke 1:20)

Central Truth: 

Faith consistently pushes us to believe in new things we do not yet understand. This means learning to listen for God’s voice, even when we’re having trouble believing the message.

“Can you hear Me now? Can you hear Me now? Can you he…”

I can identify with Zachariah. God slams a good revelation in his face. Boldly. Explosively. A “smacked-in-the-head-by-a-2x4” revelation. This is not one of those cute little coincidences that we often see and sometimes hope might be a “sign” from God. No, God wanted to make Himself clear. So Zachariah got a “sit-down” with God’s official messenger. Yet, ole Zach still stopped to ask: “Is this real? Am I really hearing what I think I’m hearing? Like, really? Seriously? Are you for real? Or are you just pullin’ my leg?” A face-to-face visit with the ANGEL GABRIEL was still not enough for Zachariah to believe without question. (This is so me). So I guess that’s why Gabriel got annoyed. But God had a purpose for taking Zachariah’s voice.

How many times have I known that God wanted to bless me, wanted to show me love, wanted to discipline me (which is just another way He shows His love), wanted to SHOUT to me: “I am your Father and I love you.” And not just shout to me with words, but with actions. Yet still I question. “Are you serious? You want me to be happy? Youwant to give me the desires of my heart? You want to spend time working on me?”

Deep down, I think Zach knew God had the ability to come through. But his questions were rooted in doubt that God WANTED to bless him. After all, it had been so looonnnggg. If God was really going to come through, wouldn’t He have done it already? If God really wanted to bless Zachariah with a child, He could have made it happen, any time, any place. BAM! Just like Emeril says. So why would God wait so long? --- The answer lies in the question: How was God using the waiting to build and shape and sculpt Zachariah in the meantime?

And why did God take his voice for months? Maybe God needed to get his attention. Maybe after years of Zach feeling sorry for himself, feeling beat-down, trampled and neglected, God had to remind Zach that he still had blessings, that he still had good stuff to lose. God always has a purpose for what He does. Sometimes He tells us, sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes we listen, sometimes we don’t. Can you hear Him now?