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...