As Christians, we are constantly looking for some kind of leading from God on how to proceed with this or that. Our prayers are chock full of phrases like “Show us in a way that we would understand”, and “Give us clear direction”. We often ask for signs that will help us know that what we are thinking is from God and not from us. There isn’t a whole lot that we wouldn’t give up for this kind of spiritual assurance. Yet how many of us have realized, in hindsight, that there were times when we overlooked the evidence of God’s authenticity right in front of our faces?
Let’s shift gears. Aside from their mention in the Bible; what did Gideon, Hezekiah and Zechariah have in common? Well, they all asked for a sign from God after they were told something amazing or were given blatant knowledge of God’s will. These are all great accounts, but I would like to focus on Zechariah for a bit.
So, there he was…A priest in the temple, fulfilling his regularly allotted duties. As far as priests go, he was probably pretty run-of-the-mill. The Bible says he and his wife, who was unable to have children, were upright and blameless in the sight of God. Advanced in years, he had spent a lifetime serving God; day in and day out.
There is little doubt that his life had become mundane and unsurprising over the years.As he lit the incense, perhaps Zechariah took comfort in the idea that yes, his world was pretty much the same as it was yesterday; that is…until Gabriel, the angel, decides to show up.
Gabriel basically tells him
a) not to be afraid,
b) That his aged and barren wife is going to have a baby,
c) to name him John,
d) not to give little John any booze,
e) he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth,
f) John will bring a bunch of people back to the Lord and
g) he will be like Elijah the profit.Okay…now watch how Zechariah, in true manly form, handles the situation:
Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." –Luke 1:18
You have got to be kidding me. Can you imagine the look on Gabriel’s face at this point? Can angels roll their eyes and sigh? There he stood, looking all angelly and full of enough of God’s supreme power to cause instant primal fear in Zechariah but no; Gabriel would not get the kind of regard from Zechariah that one would expect due to an otherworldly agent of the Almighty God. Nope. Instead, Gabriel got a bunch of uncertainty and excuses to not believe.
To Zechariah, the incense he held in his hand had become more representative of the workings of God than the true appearance of God’s very own message boy. This is how Gabriel responds:
The angel answered, "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 proper time. –Luke 1:19-20
Well, Zechariah got his sign, didn’t he? Not only that, but Gabriel smacked him down by essentially telling him that God will do what he wants, when he is good and ready to do it. I encourage you to read how the rest of the story turns out. It’s one of the best the Bible has to offer, in my opinion.
God does give signs. Usually, it is in the message itself. But, all too often, the obvious goes unnoticed and unheeded. He knows you intimately. He knows what you will hear and He knows what you will see. But do you receive it? Once again, it boils down to the gift of choice. Do I trust God and believe what I think I’m hearing or seeing? The truth is God will never, in any imaginable universe, deny your gift of choice.
You will never be forced to receive what He is sending to you.Let’s do ourselves a favor. The next time we think God might be trying to tell us something, angel in the room or not, let’s first put the incense down and find our knees. A posture of humility will always get you the best God-reception.
Let’s shift gears. Aside from their mention in the Bible; what did Gideon, Hezekiah and Zechariah have in common? Well, they all asked for a sign from God after they were told something amazing or were given blatant knowledge of God’s will. These are all great accounts, but I would like to focus on Zechariah for a bit.
So, there he was…A priest in the temple, fulfilling his regularly allotted duties. As far as priests go, he was probably pretty run-of-the-mill. The Bible says he and his wife, who was unable to have children, were upright and blameless in the sight of God. Advanced in years, he had spent a lifetime serving God; day in and day out.
There is little doubt that his life had become mundane and unsurprising over the years.As he lit the incense, perhaps Zechariah took comfort in the idea that yes, his world was pretty much the same as it was yesterday; that is…until Gabriel, the angel, decides to show up.
Gabriel basically tells him
a) not to be afraid,
b) That his aged and barren wife is going to have a baby,
c) to name him John,
d) not to give little John any booze,
e) he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth,
f) John will bring a bunch of people back to the Lord and
g) he will be like Elijah the profit.Okay…now watch how Zechariah, in true manly form, handles the situation:
Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." –Luke 1:18
You have got to be kidding me. Can you imagine the look on Gabriel’s face at this point? Can angels roll their eyes and sigh? There he stood, looking all angelly and full of enough of God’s supreme power to cause instant primal fear in Zechariah but no; Gabriel would not get the kind of regard from Zechariah that one would expect due to an otherworldly agent of the Almighty God. Nope. Instead, Gabriel got a bunch of uncertainty and excuses to not believe.
To Zechariah, the incense he held in his hand had become more representative of the workings of God than the true appearance of God’s very own message boy. This is how Gabriel responds:
The angel answered, "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 proper time. –Luke 1:19-20
Well, Zechariah got his sign, didn’t he? Not only that, but Gabriel smacked him down by essentially telling him that God will do what he wants, when he is good and ready to do it. I encourage you to read how the rest of the story turns out. It’s one of the best the Bible has to offer, in my opinion.
God does give signs. Usually, it is in the message itself. But, all too often, the obvious goes unnoticed and unheeded. He knows you intimately. He knows what you will hear and He knows what you will see. But do you receive it? Once again, it boils down to the gift of choice. Do I trust God and believe what I think I’m hearing or seeing? The truth is God will never, in any imaginable universe, deny your gift of choice.
You will never be forced to receive what He is sending to you.Let’s do ourselves a favor. The next time we think God might be trying to tell us something, angel in the room or not, let’s first put the incense down and find our knees. A posture of humility will always get you the best God-reception.
