The Christmas story is the same each year, found in the same chapters of the same books, but yet each Advent season there is something new, fresh, and pertinent to be found. This season was no different. The following are just my musings on what the Lord has shown me.
Mary and Joseph always baffle me, but this year my focus has been on Elizabeth and Zacharias.
“And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.” Luke 1.6-7.
They were living right; they were righteous; they were childless. I wonder how many times Elizabeth must have wondered what she had done to have God’s disfavor. Why was she childless when Zacharias and she lived a holy life? What did God have against her? (It’s easy to see now, because I can read the rest of chapter one, but Elizabeth couldn’t.) I wonder how many times, ‘well meaning women’ told Elizabeth to do this or that so she could conceive. I can hear someone saying, “If you would just relax…” To be barren in Bible times was a social stigma that was humiliating. Yet, Zach and Lizzie were righteous and they prayed.
In verse 13 Gabriel says, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” This had to be an A#1 day for old Zach. The lot falls to him to burn incense. This was like a once in a lifetime deal. Then added bonus, Zach gets to talk with an angel, Gabriel, about a personal matter. Not only will you have a son, but your son is going to fulfill prophecy and prepare the way for the Lord. God has been silent for 400 years, and now He decides to talk to Zach. So how long since had Zacharias stopped praying for a son? Within four verses Zach goes from being afraid to “man-mode.” This guy knows his Torah, he knows the stories, but I think slipping into “man-mode” he forgot totally about Abraham and Sarah. They were in their nineties when Isaac came. Zach and Lizzie were likely 30 years younger at least. Zacharias had more confidence in his lack of ability than in God’s ability. All you have to say Gabe sounds wonderful, but there’s this problem—I’m old, and my wife, well she’s advanced in years. Must give old Zach kudos, he did not call his Lizzie “old”.
…I find myself sympathizing with and learning from Elizabeth. Elizabeth knew she was living a righteous life, but she had no way of knowing why she was barren. Even if she had the medical technology that we do today, I think she would have been given a clean bill of health. The sovereign God of the Universe had a different plan for that couple. His plan looked different for Zach and Lizzie and required trust. For their son to fulfill his God given role in history, John the Baptist had to be born at a particular time in history. God had so much to give to Zach and Lizzie; they had to wait to receive it. It’s that waiting that is incredibly difficult especially when all hope seems lost. They prayed and kept living righteously. Granted the story turned out so Elizabeth could say, “The Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Her neighbors and relatives rejoiced with her at the birth of her son.
When it seems like God isn’t listening, He might just have a plan for your life that doesn’t look like any of your friends’ but He still takes into account the desires of your heart. I’m so like Zach! I am more willing to trust in my inabilities than I am to trust in God’s abilities. I must leave room for God; He does specialize in the impossible and the improbable. Over and over the Lord has had to take everything away until all I have is Him to trust. Faith...Trust…Obey…Pray…Wait… Maybe like Zach and Lizzie, God just has a different plan for me.
~Zacharias means “God Remembers”
~Elizabeth means “God is my oath”
~ John means “Yahweh gives grace”
God Gives Grace To Erase Disgrace!
Great insight.
ReplyDeleteYou know, infertility still has a stigma attached to it today, thankfully as people open up more about it, people are becoming more mindful of it.
I know one thing Christians do in an attempt to encourage is to point out Sarah, Rachel, Hannah. I'm sure they did this for Zacharias' Elizabeth as well. Which actually is not always that encouraging to an infertile woman. After all, those women got a child in the end. When you're still in the "first part of chapter one", it can be heard to identify with those who the Lord finally blesses with children.