Joy in Waiting

Two elderly people were known to be righteous, but weren’t receiving the blessings one would expect from being faithful. What could be wrong? Children were seen as blessings from God, but these were not so blessed, even with ‘blameless’ lives. Maybe they had some secret sin? But there’s no such indication from the text. "Both of them were righteous before God, having lived blamelessly according to all of the commandments and regulations of the Lord. They had no children because Elizabeth was barren and because both of them were getting old” (Luke 1:7). They were childless because Elizabeth was barren, and Elizabeth was barren not from sin, but only because God wanted to show up once more, at just the right time, with a miracle (to bless them, from his love for them) and give them a part in Messiah’s birth.

I’m glad they did not give up on God and retire in a funk. “Zechariah was serving” in his priestly duties, as he did faithfully every time his rotation came up (Luke 1:8) when suddenly an angel from God appeared to announce a blessing: Elizabeth would become pregnant in her old age (like Sarah, Abraham’s wife, Gen. 17:15-19) and bear a son — not only a child to love, but an heir to carry on the family name and tradition! What a blessing! What joy!

Zechariah had a hard time believing, when the angel Gabriel appeared to him, so much so that he was given a ’time-out’ penalty. But what if, earlier, he had become discouraged and had quit his duties as a priest, and stayed home that year? God’s purpose wouldn’t have been thwarted, as the Lord has a lot more options than we understand. Someone else might have been chosen to be John’s parents, and the plan would have gone forward without these two ‘old faithful’ saints. They would have been the only ones to miss out on the action, and gone to their graves still childless.

And how about you? Is it just too hard to keep hoping that the miracle you are praying for will occur in your own life? Sometimes I am tempted to quit hoping for some of my unfulfilled wishes and dreams. Maybe God has some other answer than my preferred solution, and without doubt, a better answer! Certainly, I examine my hopes in prayer often, to make sure I’m not asking for something outside his goodness. But “Ask, seek, knock,” says Jesus, who reveals to us God’s ultimate goodness; so why should I stop asking? Why should you stop asking? And why should either of us quit “showing up” faithfully to serve God, while we wait? Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, perhaps our blessing is ’not yet’ instead of ’not at all.’

As an old friend of mine used to say, “Don’t quit before the miracle happens.” This story reminds me, he was right. Let’s not quit. Our miracle could be just around the corner!