Wonder - Day 6
The wonder of a promise
Luke 1:23-25
23 When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. 24 Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. 25 “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
A few years ago I was at a conference in another country, at a place where they were a little more open to how the Spirit moves and works among us now. I was listening to a pastor pray over married couples who had thus far been unable to have children. It was a beautiful prayer, but what caught me off guard, in a humorous way, was what the pastor said after his prayer.
He said, “Ok friends, we’ve prayed to God and asked for His blessing. In other words, we’ve done the faith part. But you know that book of James says that faith without works is dead, right?” Then he finished, “ Ok, so now go get to work.”
The crowd burst into laughter, but I know some couples left that day with the hope that the words prayed over them would come true.
They did for Elizabeth. Not long after Zechariah’s angelic encounter in the temple. Elizabeth’s pregnancy test came back positive (not sure what that was in those days, but it probably wasn’t as convenient as peeing on a stick).
I can’t imagine the joy she had after living so long, childless. After praying for so long to be with child. Yet here she is, when it seemed impossible, and God had blessed them with a child.
Her response? “How kind the lord is! He has taken away my disgrace of having no children”
Surely the disgrace she felt and had believed all these years came from both external and internal sources. I’m sure the women in town would look at her and shake their heads as they held their babies. I’m also sure that Elizabeth would cry herself to sleep at night, longing to have a baby of her own to hold, a bassinet to rock, and even diapers to change.
But now, after all these years, she wondered at the God who fulfills His promises.
There is not a single promise that God has made that He hasn’t fulfilled, or is in the process of fulfilling. That may be hard to hear if you’re waiting for something you feel He’s promised you, but rest assured, God’s promises come from His love, which we’re told “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” A love that “never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8a, NIV)
God is certainly a WONDER-filled and WONDER-filling God, which we’ll continue to see through the Christmas story as God not only makes promises, fulfills promises, but also becomes the promise, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
QUESTIONS
Luke 1:23-25
23 When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. 24 Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. 25 “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
A few years ago I was at a conference in another country, at a place where they were a little more open to how the Spirit moves and works among us now. I was listening to a pastor pray over married couples who had thus far been unable to have children. It was a beautiful prayer, but what caught me off guard, in a humorous way, was what the pastor said after his prayer.
He said, “Ok friends, we’ve prayed to God and asked for His blessing. In other words, we’ve done the faith part. But you know that book of James says that faith without works is dead, right?” Then he finished, “ Ok, so now go get to work.”
The crowd burst into laughter, but I know some couples left that day with the hope that the words prayed over them would come true.
They did for Elizabeth. Not long after Zechariah’s angelic encounter in the temple. Elizabeth’s pregnancy test came back positive (not sure what that was in those days, but it probably wasn’t as convenient as peeing on a stick).
I can’t imagine the joy she had after living so long, childless. After praying for so long to be with child. Yet here she is, when it seemed impossible, and God had blessed them with a child.
Her response? “How kind the lord is! He has taken away my disgrace of having no children”
Surely the disgrace she felt and had believed all these years came from both external and internal sources. I’m sure the women in town would look at her and shake their heads as they held their babies. I’m also sure that Elizabeth would cry herself to sleep at night, longing to have a baby of her own to hold, a bassinet to rock, and even diapers to change.
But now, after all these years, she wondered at the God who fulfills His promises.
There is not a single promise that God has made that He hasn’t fulfilled, or is in the process of fulfilling. That may be hard to hear if you’re waiting for something you feel He’s promised you, but rest assured, God’s promises come from His love, which we’re told “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” A love that “never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8a, NIV)
God is certainly a WONDER-filled and WONDER-filling God, which we’ll continue to see through the Christmas story as God not only makes promises, fulfills promises, but also becomes the promise, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
QUESTIONS
- Do you feel any disgrace in your life right now, either from external or internal sources?
- What would it take for you to let God’s grace, His kindness to you, wash over you and heal you from those feelings of disgrace?
- Today, try to hear God’s words remind you of who you really are - His child, whom He loves, and with whom He is well pleased.
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