How to Wait on a Miracle
Luke 1:5-25
Introduction
Have you ever asked God for something, something good and acceptable, something that seemed like a proper request that He could honor if He simply chose to do so, and then found yourself waiting indefinitely? Quite often, it seems like God’s timetable is completely different than our own and there seems to be no explanation for it.
In the opening pages of Luke, we find an older couple who had lived with this question for years. Their request of God had been simple—grant us a child. It’s a prayer that most every married couple has prayed at one time or another. But for some reason, God had remained silent on this issue for Zechariah and Elizabeth.
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Today, we have the benefit of hindsight, but they didn’t. Today, we can look back at the OT and see the parallel. There we find another older couple—Abraham and Sarah—praying for a child. And to further confuse them, God even reveals an incredible purpose for their lives—
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Genesis 12:3
In all of the Bible, these are the only two couples that are childless and too old to have children. And they both are blessed with children that powerfully illustrate how God is faithful to His promises.
Zechariah’s name means “Yahweh remembers.” God always remembers. Every prayer that went seemingly unanswered, God remembers. Every moment when you felt like the heavens were strangely silent, God remembers. That’s the testimony of Zechariah today: Don’t give up on your miracle—God has not forgotten you.
KEY QUESTION:
How do I move forward when my prayers go unanswered?
1. Consider how God is preparing your life.
In verses 5-10, we read that Zechariah was a
priest. He and Elizabeth are called “upright” people who obeyed all of God’s commandments “regularly and blamelessly.” Yet, they were childless.
For Jews, the absence of children was seen as a reproach—evidence of God’s judgment on a person’s sin. How hard it must have been for Zechariah, a spiritual leader in Israel, and Elizabeth, to keep on obeying God, keep on remaining consistent in their faith, and still bear the sentence of a life unacceptable. When you are doing all that God has asked you to do, and He still doesn’t respond to your prayers, that’s hard. But they press on.
It gets to the day that Zechariah is chosen by the casting of lots to burn incense in the temple. There were about 18,000 priests who regularly served at the temple, but only one could go into the Holy Place and burn incense as they prepared for the sacrificial offering. As a priest, you would only get the chance to do this once in your life.
Zechariah didn’t know it, but God had been planning this day from the very beginning. Zechariah and his family were going to be a part of God’s plan to offer salvation to the world. What seemed like unexplainable silence was really God’s work of preparing Zechariah and Elizabeth for this incredible day.
The point is, when God seems to remain silent, when your prayers seem to go unanswered, it’s not because God is asleep on the job. Take time to consider all that He is doing to prepare you for His answer. Before God works on your problems, He wants to work on you.
· Noah works on building the ark for nearly 100 years before it ever started raining.
· Abraham waits 25 years after God promises him a son before Isaac is born.
· Moses herded sheep in the wilderness for 40 years before God spoke to him at the burning bush.
The list goes on and on. In all of those
situations, did God just forget what He was doing? Did He get distracted? No. He was working on each person, preparing them for what He had planned. While your waiting on your miracle, God is working on you.
2. Comprehend how God speaks to your life.
As I said, this was a once-in-a-lifetime
experience for Zechariah. There were probably a myriad of emotions he was dealing with. On the one hand, there was the excitement that came from having this incredible honor that he had waited on all of his life. On the other hand, there was probably a holy fear of what it meant to minister in God’s presence. In Leviticus 10 we read about Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, and how they were immediately put to death by God because they performed this ritual in a prideful manner. He probably rehearsed his actions over and over in his mind with the prayer that he would emerge from the Holy Place alive.
The altar in the Holy Place was just in front of a tall curtain behind which was the Holy of Holies. This is where the Ark of the Covenant resided and where the Jews believed the very presence of God’s glory dwelt. This is as close as Zechariah will ever get to that place.
Zechariah would burn incense that day at the altar. This mixture of spices produced a heavy smoke that symbolized two things. First, it pictured the prayers of God’s people, rising up to heaven. It would be seen outside as it filled up the room and billowed out from the openings around the tops of the walls. Second, it was also intended to shield the priest from God’s presence, so the priest would not die from seeing God.
As Zechariah was performing his duty, a messenger from God appears at the right side of the altar—considered the side of favor. Now keep in mind that Zechariah is standing just outside the Holy of Holies. The other priests and the people are standing in the courtyard outside the temple praying and seeing the incense rise. What do you think they were praying for? They were praying for the coming of the Messiah. And after 400 years of silence between the OT and NT, God speaks through Gabriel. The answer to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s prayers, and the answer to Israel’s prayers are connected in a supernatural way.
What I want you to see here is that God speaks, as He always speaks, in the context of worship. How many times do you come here on Sunday and just go through the motions? Walk in, sit down, stand up, sing, sit down, stand up, and walk out. Are you meeting with God today? Worship is the joy, the expectation of meeting with God, whether it’s here in worship, or at home in prayer.
And if you are waiting on a miracle, but not engaging in consistent worship—both private and public—then I would expect that you will just go on waiting.
If God speaks to us only when we demand answers, then the focus is all on us. But it’s not about us. It’s all about Him. We have to comprehend that God only speaks in the context of worship. It’s the vital step in seeing God work in your life.
3. Clarify how God evaluates your life.
In verses 11-17, Gabriel describes to
Zechariah the answer to their prayer for a child in great detail. He describes how his son John will be seen as great by God Himself.
That’s enough to cause us to pause and clarify how God defines greatness. What is it about John’s life that would make Him label it as great?
· John lived a life fueled by the Holy Spirit’s power.
Gabriel tells us that John would be
empowered by the Spirit from birth. This seems to be a unique blessing that God placed on John’s life. We’ll see evidence of that later when Luke tells us that the baby leaps in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s greeting.
What we see in John’s life is a preview of what is available to every person’s life after the saving work of Jesus on the cross. John prepares the way for Jesus by letting us see what a Spirit-filled life looks like.
· John preached a message that was life-changing.
Gabriel announces in verse 17 that John’s
ministry will be a fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy concerning Elijah. How were John’s and Elijah’s ministries connected?
Elijah was the key prophet in preaching repentance to Israel.
Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21
John’s preaching was a message of repentance. It was focused on calling people to turn from their sin to God.
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Luke 3:7-8
That’s the kind of life message that God defines as great. What is your life message? What are you calling people to do with their lives based on your words and your actions? Is there any evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power in what you do? That’s how God defines greatness. While your waiting on your miracle, take time to clarify how God is evaluating your life.
4. Contemplate God’s plan for your life.
We often look at verse 18 and judge
Zechariah pretty harshly. He obviously had questions and doubts about how God would accomplish all of this in His life. He uses two different words here age. One describes himself (“old”), and the other describes Elizabeth (“advanced in years”). He’s saying, “I’m an old man, and the years have taken a toll on my wife.” He is simply giving a human response to a supernatural announcement.
Zechariah had to be thinking, “Why now?” God could have answered this prayer in our prime, but how can we have the health, the energy, the stamina, to raise a child at our age?
Gabriel’s response is meant to remind Zechariah, and us, about how God’s plan works. He says, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.” In other words, this is God’s plan that has been in the works since before eternity. If God has it planned, don’t you think He knows how to carry it out?
God’s timing and the way that God implements His plans rarely fits our way of thinking. God knew the exact time that Jesus would be born. God know exactly when He would need to send a forerunner to prepare the way. And the age or physical condition of Zechariah and Elizabeth wasn’t an obstacle at all. As our memory verse and the message to Mary later on reminds us—
For nothing is impossible with God.
Luke 1:37
5. Concede to God’s discipline in your life.
Zechariah’s problem was a lack of faith. So
Gabriel gives him a sign that will remind him for the next nine months of his lack of faith. God takes away his voice and makes him mute. I’ve heard someone say that he wasn’t sure what the bigger miracle was—Elizabeth having a baby or a preacher keeping silent for nine months!
I’ve often thought about how this sign affected Zechariah over the next few months. Each day, as his wife progressed in her pregnancy, he was reminded of how unbelieving he had been, and how loving and faithful God had been. We will later see that the sign accomplished its purpose in his life.
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. Luke 1:64
When you are waiting on God’s miracle in your life, how do you respond to His acts of discipline?
Illustration
In the beginning, when Kristi and I were married, we made a commitment to one another that was sealed by a legal contract—we call it a marriage license. But as the years go by, we don’t maintain that commitment to one another because of a contract. We remain committed because of the love that has grown out of our commitment. That license now is a keepsake instead of a contract.
If you view God’s discipline as a forced contract—something that forces you to wait patiently while God does His thing—you will eventually give up and walk away. But if you view God’s discipline in your life as a keepsake, a loving reminder of your commitment to Him and His faithfulness to you, you will wait in faith and remain confident that God’s answer is coming.
Closing
