December 19: Luke 1:5-25
Key Verse: Luke 1:7
But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Devotion:
One of the things which encourages me most is reading about all the people in our bibles who never gave up hope; yes it is hard to keep on hoping when it seems like the world is falling apart and your life with it… But here, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth still continued to show everyone that God was the centre of their lives even though they were old and had not had any children.
But far beyond the point where most of us would have given up and retired, the Lord sent an angel to come to Zechariah and tell him of some astonishing news: his prayers were going to be answered and they would finally have a son! The angel gave instructions to Zechariah and, like us, Zechariah had to ask…
So the angel Gabriel told him he would not be able to speak until the day Elizabeth gave birth and he was going to say the name of his son which the angel had told of! So, not only do we have a Zechariah who is utterly human and doubts, but we have an angel who gave specific instructions for him to follow from that moment onward!
God made sure everything went according to the way the angel spoke and both Zechariah and Elizabeth knew it came directly from God; they continued to wait patiently, now filled with even more hope that before!
Points to Ponder:
How soon do you give up waiting for God?
What do you do when God answers your prayers?