Luke 1:11-25
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wide Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his Mother's womb.
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.
And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
And it came to pass that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself for five months, saying,
Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
It just made me laugh when I was reading this tonight. Zacharias was a priest. He was not just some random guy who didn't know the things that God could do. And he did not believe it when an angel told him that his wife would have a son.
An angel! Seriously! This wasn't another priest, or some crazy guy who thought he could tell the future. This was an angel. Zacharias apparently knew Gabriel was an angel, or at least knew there was something special about him, but he still didn't believe. Too bad he didn't remember the story of Abraham and Sarah.
Is it harder to believe when a prophecy or a word is about you? We can believe that things are for other people. I frequently tell students that God has great plans for them, and I tell them that they will do amazing things, but I find it way easier to believe that for them than for me. I must confess that I have a hard time seeing that the wondrous promises of God are for me. Maybe that was Zacharias' problem. I am sure that he knew that God could work miracles like that.
The awesome thing is, he doubted, but God still used him. Sure, there was a consequence to his doubting (the man couldn't speak til his son was born), but God didn't decide to choose someone else just because Zacharias wanted proof. Gives a pretty good picture of the God that we serve. He can handle any doubts you might have, and he knows you're going to have them.
But learn from the past. God can do amazing things, and he wants to do them for YOU, not just the person next to you, or that person from the Bible, or that missionary that is overseas. He wants to do great things through and to you.
And yes, I am working on remembering that this counts for me too :~)
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