Luke 1:5-25
Have you ever heard something that was too good to be true? Maybe it was an exceptionally good price on a car. The first thing you ask is "What's wrong with it?" Or maybe it was a deal on something in your favorite store, so you ask "What's the catch?" Or maybe you see an advertisement for a $1000 shopping spree, so you wonder what you have to sign up for in order to be entered in the drawing. In any case, if something is too good to be true, you are skeptical, which oftentimes leads to doubt. Sometimes we want to just walk away from a good deal because of doubt.
Such was the case with the subject of today's devotional: Zacharias. The Scriptures tell us that he and his wife were "well stricken in years;" in other words: they were OLD. They had no kids, and were well beyond normal "child bearing age." So, as you can imagine, when God comes to Zacharias and says "you are going to have a son," Zacharias was doubtful. To him, this was an impossible task. Yes, he wanted it to happen, and had probably longed to have a child for many, many years, but it just didn't make sense.
The only problem here is that the person telling this news to Zacharias isn't just some shady used car salesman with greasy hair, it is the angel Gabriel, sent by God to deliver God's message in person to Zacharias! Luke 1:19-20 says: "And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season."
Zacharias was doing what many of us do all the time: we rely on our own logic and understanding, instead of having faith in God, who is beyond logic and human understanding. God specializes in the impossible—that's kind of his "thing," if you will. I mean, after-all, He created the human mind from dust; don't you think He is capable of much more than we can understand?
God has a plan for each one of us. He wants to bless us with His love and His perfect plan, but we hinder Him with our doubts, fears, and limited human understanding. We need to recognize when we are standing in the presence of God, and surrender ourselves to Him so He can work. He needs an empty vessel to work with, so just have faith and believe!
~ Eric Frantz
