Hello and welcome to Beauty – the no-frills, no-nonsense podcast about all things beauty. True Beauty. God’s Beauty. I am your host, Deanna, and today we are talking about the beauty of unbelief – which seems a little odd but hang with me for a few short minutes while I unpack some thoughts for you.
I absolutely love the story of Zechariah. Have you read it? You can find this story in today’s advent reading - Luke 1:5-20. I do encourage you to look it up and check it out. The story is filled with so many lessons – one I want to highlight today.
According to scripture, Zechariah was a Jewish priest. He was married to Elizabeth, and they were righteous people. They were also childless. Luke, the author of this book, wrote those specific details for a purpose, and the next verses will help us discover why.
While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.” – Luke 1:11-13, NLT
The angel then goes on to tell Zechariah about John’s future and how he will be used by God. As a mom, I would have loved this information! If you are a parent, you know the struggle… You raise your children in the way you think is right and you pray for them to do great things for the kingdom, but you never really know what path they will take until they take it. Zechariah was told John would follow the path of righteousness, and yet he chose to ask the angel (hello – an angel!) a peculiar question in verse 18.
He wanted to know how he could know. For sure. He and his wife were older, beyond childbearing age. It seemed a bit ridiculous, I am sure. I am almost 51, and if someone told me I was going to have another child at this point in my life, I would also question it and ask for proof. There is a point when we give up on our dreams and retire our desires, and I suspect Zechariah and Elizabeth had given up on the possibility of being parents by the time the angel appeared and told Zechariah to think again.
The verses after this story tell about how Mary learned she was going to give birth to Jesus. Her reaction was quite different from Zechariah’s. While she did question how it could happen, she ended up saying, “I am the Lord’s servant” (v. 38). I want to say I would react as Mary did, but there is probably a little more Zechariah in me than I would like to admit.
Judging by verse 19, I imagine Gabriel got a little mad when he was asked for proof. As a result, Zechariah was unable to speak. That’ll teach him! I wonder how Zechariah felt about his desire to know for certain. Maybe a bit regretful, but also, maybe a bit thankful. I wonder at what point this righteous man of God realized that his unbelief was a sin against God. Here was an angel standing before him telling him good news, and instead of being grateful and filled with joy, he chose to question the validity of the promise.
Gabriel told Zechariah that God had heard his prayers. The prayers Zechariah prayed in earnest desire for a child. An heir. I don’t know for sure, of course, but I imagine that a man like Zechariah didn’t pray those prayers without a having faith God could or would answer. But it serves as a reminder - God may not answer the way we envision he will. Zechariah had obviously prayed for a child for years. And maybe he stopped praying at some point, knowing they were older. It was probably a bit of a shock to hear, in his old age, he was going to be a daddy. Unbelievable.
But with God, everything is believable.
His punishment for unbelief was that he couldn’t speak until the child was born. I have no doubt God knew Zechariah to the depths of his soul – just like he knows each of us. This punishment was also a loving gift because God knew what speaking might do to Zechariah. God knew this righteous man might be led to further unbelief and sin, so he led Zechariah to a place where they could be together instead – silence.
Isn’t that beautiful?
Hands down, the times I feel closest to God is always in the silence. I find it harder to connect in the noise. I need to slow myself down and wait for his voice. Maybe God knew Zechariah needed to do this as the news fell upon his ears? Maybe God knew panic would set in? Maybe God wanted to draw Zechariah in closer to prepare him to raise John the Baptist. This wasn’t just another child on the street. The child Zechariah was going to raise was the man who would prepare the way for Jesus.
I love the simple beauty of God working in mysterious ways. Don’t think for a minute that he doesn’t move in the same way still today. Maybe we just need to spend time in the quiet to see it?
D 😊
