18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Alicia, I think you've just touched upon the secret of successful discipleship: learning to trust God more and ourselves less!
I love that old age doesn’t figure in with the Lord. He never thinks ,” should have done it sooner!” My hero is Caleb. It wasn’t much fun hanging around in the wilderness waiting 45 years, but he did, and he went in!
Beautiful, heartfelt thoughts Alicia.
The Lord sent a messenger to Zechariah with a great promise. Unlike Abraham, he questioned the promise and paid a price for his disobedience. Through Christ, God now speaks clear messages through His Holy Spirit. Learning to listen to the Holy is, for us, a discipline for our walk. Father, make us Marys not Zechariahs. Amen
If angels have eyebrows, I’m pretty sure Gabriel’s left one shot up about three inches, just like my mom’s did when one of us kids questioned her authority! Oftentimes we, too, were sent to our rooms to be quiet and “think about what you just said.”
Sometimes we all need to be silent for a time and think about the authority of our Father. He is the Creator of the universe, all-present and all-powerful … yet at the same time our loving and forgiving parent. When we can reconcile in our minds this combination of pure power and pure love, we can begin to understand that our Father wants and does what is best for us, answering our prayer…