[image error]Luke 1:5-25

This really sticks out to me:

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.”

Wow. All Zachariah says was the obvious: I’m old. So is my wife. How can we have a child? And zap. Zachariah was punished. He wasn’t able to speak until after his son was born.

I don’t know if this was a real punishment or God using Zachariah’s lack of faith as an object lesson for everyone else in the Jewish community. But don’t we doubt God when we need to just have faith immediately and without question?

It’s like a little kid who tests his parents. Mom or dad says, “On the count of three, you better stop doing that.

“One. Two …”

Most of the time, the kid waits until the parent gets to “three.” Not with God. God doesn’t count to three. He expects us to obey immediately. If not, He’ll find someone else, or an answer to pray may pass us by.

So the goal is to have faith that God will be there for us without any of our conditions or questions. It’s hard. But the next time you are faced with a test of faith, see if you can give Him your trust unconditionally.

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