“For nothing is impossible with God.”
Luke 1:37
As we enter the New Testament and the Gospel of Luke, we meet the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.”—Luke 1:6-7.
Zechariah was serving in the temple when the angel Gabriel visited him with good news. “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” The angel continued with further instructions on how the child would be raised. Who knows how we might react, but Zechariah was doubtful and questioned the angel. Apparently, he didn’t recall another elderly couple who was given what we might consider an impossible assignment—the birth of an entire nation.
Some months later, Gabriel appeared to a young virgin named Mary. She was given even more incredible news—the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and she would give birth to the Son of God. Rather than react with doubt, however, Mary’s response was “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”
Zechariah was muted for a time because of his doubt; Mary was blessed for her faith.
When God calls us to a task, what should our response be? In our human nature, we may be like Zechariah and ask how it’s possible. Sometimes that task appears insurmountable because our eyes are on us, rather than on the One who can do all things.
When God calls you to a task, or you call out to Him in prayer, move from asking if God can really do this to asking how God wants you to move with Him.
Imagine if Luke or Paul or Moses or Isaiah…or any of the other authors who contributed to the Bible lacked the faith to obey God’s call. Where would we be now?
The 400 hundred years of silence between the Old Testament and the New was fertile ground for the enemy. The world then, as it is today, longed for what Christianity had to offer—faith founded on fact. We have the Bible because of the obedience of those who loved the Lord with all their hearts.
What is God calling you to do? As long as we are here on this earth, we can and should be used for His purposes. Maybe we’re a little like Zechariah, questioning the power of the Lord to use us to fulfill a specific need, when we should respond as Mary did—I am the Lord’s servant, may it be as you have said.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”—Eph 6:18
Heavenly Father, we pray for Your sovereign will over our national and international leaders. Please grant them wisdom, discernment, and sober-mindedness. We lift up our Christian brothers and sisters who are in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world where their light must shine as a prophetic witness amid real threats and persecutions. Please bring peace to the Middle East, to the streets of America, and around the world.
Help us all to be instruments of your peace wherever we are.
In Jesus’s name we pray.
