Zechariah

He kind of gets a bum rap. After all, he was the one that didn't believe Gabriel at first. But I was reading Abraham's reaction when God told him that he would possess all the land in Canaan, and Abraham asked the same thing: "How can I be sure?"

So because of Zechariah's unbelief, he can't talk for about a year. I'm sure it was a constant struggle. He had to learn new ways of communicating and normal every-day stuff became frustrating. Then his deliverance didn't even come the day the baby was born. Those eight days must have felt like an eternity...

But once he obeyed that one little thing God required of him, then he was set free! And because of this hardship and then his deliverance from it after he obeyed, people everywhere were talking about it. God got even more glory! And people knew this child was special...

What Has He Done For Me Lately?

Lately I've heard more comments about that big gap between the last Old Testament book (Malachi, written by a prophet after Israel returned home from exile) and the arrival of John the Baptist on the scene, FOUR HUNDRED YEARS LATER. "What was God doing during all that time?" "Was He speaking to His people?" "Why did He wait so long?"

I've also heard that Israel was constantly keeping their eyes open for their Messiah, the one that would overthrow any oppressive government and lead them to a lasting victory over all their enemies. After all, that's how the prophets had described it.

But after 400 years of looking for their deliverer, had some given up hope?

I don't know why God waited for 400 years... Israel experienced some pretty difficult times during those years. They must have prayed each year, "Lord, please let this year be the one!" After even 100 years of that prayer and not seeing an answer, some may have given up hope and questioned God's character and/or motives.

Something I've learned over the past year or two is that it is dangerous to judge God according to your circumstances. I've wanted to. I've demanded explanations from God, and searched for answers when He seems to have turned a deaf ear to our prayers. Why won't He heal? What is He waiting for? I've seen a lot of heartache over the past few years, not just in my immediate circle of friends, but almost anywhere you look. (Watching the news at night is enough to depress anyone.) You can't fault people for wondering "What is God doing up there?"

Yet what I've realized is that judgments based on circumstances can be faulty because your judgment depends on your perspective. And because of levels of knowledge and time, there can be countless perspectives for one circumstance. For example, a child getting an immunization shot has a much different perspective than his parent.

I can say that easily, but to know and to feel it is all together a different story.

So yesterday I tried to take Mary's perspective. In her song, she took a perspective that was bigger than 400 years. And when she did that, she found a lot of things to praise God for. If you can today, try to take the time to write down all the things Mary said God had done. Then go ahead and take a bigger perspective of your own life and write down all the things you've seen God do... take as big a perspective as you want. I'm sure you'll find some good stuff. And feel free to share any or all of it here. Let's be encouraged by God's true character, and let's try not judge Him from our limited perspective.

"Nothing is Impossible With God"

Can we just sit on this truth for a moment? A lifetime?

Do you believe this?

Do you act like you do?

What has God said to you that sounded impossible? Believe it now...

Believe

Zechariah: "How can I be sure of this?"

Mary: "How will this be?"

I can't even imagine what it was like, standing in front of Gabriel, hearing the awesome news he had brought from God. Hind sight ruins the drama for us... we've read the end of the story, so -- lets be honest here -- the weirdness of these messages from God doesn't shock us. NO ONE imagined it happening this way... an old and childless couple getting pregnant? A young kid pregnant? It was crazy! Miraculous! Of course there would be questions...

However, there is a subtle difference between Zechariah's question and Mary's question. We can't know exactly what they were thinking, but based on how they worded their responses, what was the difference between them? Read verse 45 for some help...

"Chosen By Lot"

I was struck by this phrase as I read about Zechariah. Earlier we saw how his life was all about following God. Then, one day, God orchestrated all the details so He could get Zechariah alone to talk to him, and set some major parts of his plan in motion.

Sometimes I'm afraid I'm going to miss God's plan...

When you are waiting for God to do something in your life, do you anxiously check under every stone, afraid you might miss a key piece of the puzzle? Waiting does some crazy things to us. We have all this time to look around us, scrutinizing our circumstances, trying to figure out how He will move, what our responsibility might be. But you know what? We don't have to go searching for Him. When it's time to talk about His next move, He'll find us. He'll put things in order and get us where he wants us so we can listen, when the time is right.

So what do we do until then?

Don't worry, about how or when or what the next move will be. God's got that taken care of.

Do seek Him and His kingdom. Follow the path He's laid out for all of us. Get to know Him for the one single purpose of just knowing Christ. I couldn't think of time spent any better. Then, if our eyes are on Him, He'll make the next step impossible to miss, and we'll be in the perfect position to follow Him -- wherever that might be.

So, what are you waiting for?

Luke Chapter 1

Whoa, I didn't realize the first chapter was 80 verses long! We may take two weeks on this one, since we got a late start anyway.

I love that in this book, we have the story of Jesus' life that was investigated fully and compiled in an orderly and complete fashion. And as Luke put it, his investigations were so that we could be certain of the things we have been taught about Jesus. Luke is saying, "I've checked out his story, and I'm convinced of it's truth." I'm excited to get into it.

What first interested me as I started reading about Zechariah and Elizabeth was the description of both of them. In one sentence, the author summed up their character. You also see this in the books of Kings: each king is described as either "doing good", or "doing evil in the eyes of God." It reminds me that people are watching our lives... if a biographer had to sum you up in one sentence, what would he say?

But here's the other thing I noticed: even though this couple was blameless (and who can make that claim easily?), their one big prayer request hadn't been answered. The thing that would bring them joy, recognition and security was withheld from them. How many years did they have to say "Even though God hasn't given us this one thing we ask of Him, we still believe He is good and loves us tremendously"? How many people scoffed at this ("You wholeheartedly serve this God, and He doesn't even give you a child, the one thing you ask Him for? Fools.")? How many people thought that it was because of some hidden sin that they didn't have children? Did they think they weren't quite good enough, or didn't deserve a child?

When you have years and years of asking God and not receiving, your mind can go a little crazy with trying to understand why. Can you relate? What lessons can you take from Zechariah and Elizabeth's example? How should we wait for God, and what should we believe about Him?

A New Book

Good morning, friends!

Thank you so much for reading through 1 Peter with me. It proved to be more inspiring, challenging, and humbling than I first thought, which is good. I don't know why I am surprised by all the ways God meets us through his word, but it always comes new and fresh and holds great promises and guidance for us, even when we don't expect it.

So now we must start a new book, and I've been thinking about reading through Luke, and then possibly on to Acts, since it is kind of a sequel to Luke. I loved reading through another gospel (John) last year, and since Luke is said to be the most beautiful book ever written (which sounds like a good endorsement to me), I think it would be a good way to spend our mornings. So how about it? Will you pray with me that God will guide us through this, and give us the strength and wisdom to grow in the knowledge of Him?

Humility

1 Peter 5

If some of you know me well, you'll know that one of my all-time life-changing verses speaks about being humble, and how that has rocked my world many times over. I'm telling you (and myself) right now that if you want God to move in you and in your life, seek humility... get down on the floor, flat on your face, and humble yourself before God.

"God opposes the proud..." Ever thought about what a life would look like if The Almighty God is in opposition to it? Could anything really succeed? Would there be any fruit in one's labor, or in one's life in general? I have a picture in my mind of a child pushing with all his might to get somewhere and God's parent-like hand on his forehead, stopping the child from moving even an inch. The actions of the child might be for very noble purposes, but God is in opposition to him and his desires simply because of the pride in the child's heart. How can we expect to succeed in anything, either getting what we want or finding satisfaction in what we get, if God opposes us? We will meet frustration after frustration until, hopefully, we get to the point where we fall to the floor in exhaustion and give in. That kind of humility comes the hard way, so wouldn't it be best to fall to the floor first?

"... but gives grace to the humble." The humble don't necessarily have an easy way of it either, but at least God is not opposing them. And they have this one all-powerful factor in their life: GRACE. What's so special about grace? It is all the goodness we can receive, all the provision, all the gifts, culminating in the most awesome display of grace this world has ever seen: Jesus dying for us. It is God FOR us. It is rest, peace and joy in the midst of any circumstance. Who wouldn't want that?

The price? Your pride.

So my question today is, what does your pride look like? If you want to make some sort of progress in your life, first look to see if your pride is causing God to place roadblocks in front of you. Pride is one of Satan's favorite tools, and he loves to hide it from us, masking it or justifying it with some dignifying term, so it won't be an easy search. But if that first step in removing your pride is a humble one, God will help you through it. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts."

For added help, there is another passage that goes so well with today's reading (and uses the same quote from Proverbs!): James 4:1-10.

Join with me in this act of surrendering pride and seeking humility. Trust me, it will rock our world.

Christian Suffering

I apologize for not writing anything here during the last week. I admit, I've been sort of avoiding it. The passage that was up next didn't feel like it spoke to me and I wasn't sure what to write or say or ask you. Of course, I knew that God's Word can always speak to us, no matter what our circumstances may be. But I just felt a little removed from once again reading about suffering for being a Christian. Not that I didn't stop thinking about it, though. Part of me wanted to thank God for the religious freedom we experience here in the US. Part of me imagined that freedom slowly disappearing, and wondered about the strength of my faith (of course, and unfortunately, I didn't dwell long on that. Much more pleasant to just remain in my comfort and pretend that it's normal). Part of me thought of all the Christians, past and present, that have suffered simply because they loved Jesus and wouldn't deny him... even if it meant a life of suffering. Dying for Christ is the ultimate sacrifice, but living for him, and daily or hourly suffering because of him, is truly the greatest sacrifice.

Peter said "don't be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering." The fact is, Christians will suffer. We will go through trials and will be insulted because of the name of Christ.

Did any of you see Evan Almighty? The scene that still stands out in my mind is the one of Evan standing among all the government officials and in front of TV cameras, looking like a fool with his clothes and crazy hair and having to stand up for what he absolutely knew was true, knowing the mocking and humiliation he would face. NO ONE believed him. He was a fool in their eyes, and they had no compassion for him. Did you see the humility it took for him to take all of that? I think the actor portrayed it perfectly, because he wasn't proud and defiant. He humbly held to the truth and took the emotional berating with no defense of his own character.

Maybe I'm starting to see how this whole book fits together. Peter talks about suffering and trials in length at least three times. He tells us to "prepare our minds for action" and "arm ourselves with this attitude [of Christ]" because living for God is a battle and includes trials. He talks about being humble and being submissive because this is the best attitude to have when going through difficulties. And he lists so many reasons, purposes and beneficial outcomes of suffering (but makes it clear that he is referring to the suffering from doing good, not the suffering that results from our sin or misbehavior). But to top it all off, he reminds us that "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in his footsteps." When all the words and theology of suffering rings hollow in the midst of pain, we have someone who can say "I know what you are going through. Put your feet in my footsteps and I will lead you through this."