I Doubt It

Luke 1:18–20 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 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. 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.” CONSIDER THIS Okay, let’s talk “doubt” for a moment. But before we do, I must give credit to Zechariah. He gets major brownie points in his response to Gabriel. When he learned the news that Elizabeth was going to have a baby, he brought up the fact that he’s old, and then, when faced with saying the same of his wife, he slowed down and carefully used the phrase that she’s “well along in years.” Well played, Zechariah. Well played. Yet something he said struck a serious chord with the angel Gabriel and it wasn’t Zechariah’s old-age comment. It was the words he used before stating the obvious: “How can I be sure of this?” That, my friends, is the scent of doubt overpowering the incense of the wonder found in that moment. How many times does our doubt literally get in the way of the wonder that God has placed in our paths? As I write this, our doorbell just rang, and a courier left a package on our front doorstep. Apparently, my wife has ordered some baby gates that we need to put up in our home. With the gift of a grandchild in our lives comes the added bonus of making sure the house is grandbaby-proofed. It’s never a bad idea to put up some boundaries to keep our sweet little ones from crawling into places that may be unsafe. Baby gates are handy, but let’s be real, they’re not meant to be permanently installed. Children grow into teenagers who grow into adults, and whether we want it or not, the world becomes one big, open, and, oftentimes, scary place. Here’s the problem with growing older. If we’re not careful, we run the risk of putting baby gates back up in our paths, closing ourselves off from the hopes, dreams, and plans the Lord may still have for us! Perhaps it’s just safer to wall up those God-given wants rather than lean in and continue to intercede for our heart’s desires. Zechariah, a devout follower of the Lord who both knew the words and promises of God and who had literally just won the lottery moments earlier and was now standing in the temple, had just heard the miraculous. With the angel Gabriel in his midst, he has learned that the Messiah was coming into the world as told by the prophet Micah four hundred years earlier, and Zechariah’s own son would be the very one, “in the spirit . . . of Elijah, to . . . make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (v. 17). I love Gabriel’s response to Zechariah’s doubt. He simply replies: “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. 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.” Zechariah had closed the door on a dream, and when the path was revealed, he couldn’t see the wonder that was staring at him within the moment. Gabriel’s response, in effect: “Why don’t we just zip up that mouth of yours so, moving forward, your words don’t overshadow the wonder God is prophesying over you in this moment?” Perhaps Zechariah’s faith had weakened over time. If we’re going to be honest, it happens to us all too. Yet here’s the good news found in today’s word: weak faith does not weaken God’s power. THE PRAYER  God of wonder, we thank you for the reminder that where there is breath in our lungs, there’s a story that’s still being written. Awaken our hearts and open our hands to receive the words of hope you would breathe over us today. THE QUESTIONS Where are our words getting in the way of the wonder God might be speaking over us today? Where have we put baby gates back up in our stories that God might be wanting us to remove?