18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people (Luke 1:18-25).”
Growing up in a godly family gave me a good foundation to help me make decisions in life. I’m not saying that we went to church every Sunday night. Some Sunday nights were reserved for the Wonderful World of Disney. Anyone remember those nights? I’m also not saying that I always made the right decisions, but I did have a good foundation. This foundation not only came from my time at church, but also from listening to my grandmother’s stories about God’s faithfulness in her life. She told me about tithing when they didn’t have much, and she told me about trusting God in the really tough times. She was stoic in her faith. My grandmother had a strong faith that God would provide all her needs. But, she also carried a very heavy burden. She had a brother who didn’t know Jesus. She prayed, and she prayed, and she prayed. She prayed every day for over 50 years that her brother would give his life to Jesus. Guess what? You got it. After all those years, her brother finally turned to Jesus. 50 years! What physically seemed impossible became possible because she continued to pray and believe.
Zechariah had a similar situation, except he responded very differently. Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, told him that his wife would bear a son. Zechariah’s experience told him that his wife, Elizabeth, could not become pregnant so he questioned Gabriel. This was an issue of belief in his life. He looked around at other women her age and none of them had children. She was barren (this means she didn’t have any children). Elizabeth was a bit scorned in the community because of her barrenness, so it was extremely difficult for her. I’m sure you can imagine the gossip in the courtyards and on the street corners. Elizabeth becoming pregnant wasn’t even on Zechariah’s radar. I can tell you that raising children at his age certainly wasn’t something he was planning. I’m sure he was already trying to figure out when his son-to-be would graduate from high school! It surely didn’t seem physically possible. But, how often does God make what is physically impossible a possibility? Zechariah was in for the shock of his life.
Gabriel had it right. He said that Zechariah didn’t believe. As righteous as Zechariah was, this crisis of belief hit him hard. It was about belief, not confidence. In my opinion, having belief means you believe it will happen and having confidence means you think it might be possible. Zechariah did not have a lack of confidence, but rather a lack of belief. After all, how would you respond if Gabriel came to you and said you were going to be a parent in your old age? I know in my house we would have a crisis of belief. It would definitely be a crisis!
So what happened? God caused Zechariah to become mute because of his unbelief and Elizabeth became pregnant. Zechariah learned what Mary learned. With God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). This is an amazing truth that we all should embrace this season. Regardless of your circumstance, your hurt, your loneliness, or lack of belief, God still loves you and cares about you deeply.
Learn from those who have gone before you. Learn from the stories of faith handed down in your family. Learn from Zechariah and the way God honored his righteousness. Learn from your own stories that God writes in your own family. If you learn, you will have fewer and fewer crisis of belief moments and more and more belief in God’s providence moments. Trust Him even when it seems impossible!