When We Cannot Speak, We Listen

Day 6

Scripture

Luke 1:18-25

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

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. 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.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Devotional

Whenever I read this passage, my first impulse is to ask why God had muted Zechariah, and what purpose it could have served. Was it strictly a punishment? A way to convince the other priests that he had really experienced God’s power? An opportunity to make him a better husband and give his pregnant wife a listening ear? We can’t know for sure. 

Perhaps the most important question is the one Zechariah asks himself: “How can I be sure of this?” He does not ask the more typical “How can this be?” or even “When will this happen?” It’s a wild claim to suggest an elderly couple will bear a child, but Zechariah’s first sentence isn’t even concerned with the physical possibility of his wife conceiving. He wants to be sure that this prophecy is real. He wants to be sure that God isn’t lying to him. He wants to be sure that he isn’t getting his hopes up for nothing.

I imagine Zechariah has felt very disappointed. He and Elizabeth have been faithful, but so far God has not answered their prayers. Instead, Elizabeth is looked down upon because she could not bear children. She watches babies grow up and have their own babies while she remains childless. That had to sting. When Zechariah responds to Gabriel, I don’t believe he is speaking as the priest who knows God’s faithfulness well, but rather, he responds as a disappointed man. 

Now, as emotional as this encounter is, Zechariah knows better than to doubt an angel of the Lord while standing in the holiest room of the temple. But God does not remove or lessen his blessing. God does not say through Gabriel “Because you have doubted, you won’t have this baby after all! I’ll give him to someone else who won’t doubt!” No. God tells him that he will have his blessing at the appointed time. God tells him to listen, wait, and see.

God is generous with His blessings. He will take away our shame, and He will start a new thing in us. But sometimes we let our past disappointments get in the way. We see here that God does not withdraw His blessings because we doubt. He does not withhold our blessings because we are not worthy. Instead, He wants us to grow into our blessings and His plan for us. He wants us to listen, wait, and see that His promises are always true.

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for your promises that are always true. Thank you for being faithful to us even when we are lacking. Please bless us in this time and begin a new thing in us. Teach us how to listen to your voice and wait faithfully and expectantly for your promises to be fulfilled. Amen.

Challenge

What promises has God made to you? What promises has God given us in His Word? Spend some time today reflecting on God’s promises. Are you living in expectation of these promises to be fulfilled? Remember these promises so that you may actively listen, wait, and see how God moves. 

By Erin Linker