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There are moments in life in which we have the opportunity to gaze forward and ask ourselves “what if?” in hopes that the future will hold the hopes and promises that we wait for and then there are times in which those hopes and promises lie right in front of us and we must purpose ourselves to move forward by seizing the opportunity and asking “what now?” In Luke 1 I believe we find Zacharais and Elizabeth in one of these situations. They had prayed for, hoped for a child for many years. They had probably even come to a place in life where they had allowed their hope to diminish because it just didn’t seem that this prayer was ever going to be answered. In what would have been the greatest moment of Zacharias’ life, the one time he was chosen to burn the incense at the altar, he was interrupted by the angel Gabriel who came with these words “your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son”. In this moment of amazing power, grace and intensity Zacharias does what many of us have done when God comes with a long awaited answer to our prayers, he freezes with questions of doubt, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years?”
The time for questions is not when God puts His answers in front of us, that is the time for action and for faith. Zacharias met the promise of God with the reality of the disappointment he had been feeling and with the resignation he had come to, it was too late for him to have a son. We, like Zacharias must learn that our circumstances don’t define who we are or what God is able to do in and through our lives. One of my favorite verses speaks to this, Hebrews 11:11 says “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” God’s will for you life is not dictated by your circumstances or your ability, it is dictated by His ability and our obedience. The “what if?” questions usually bring us to a place of reliance on our understanding, our ability and our circumstances. The question, “what now?” puts us in position not to judge whether or not we are able but instead to choose whether or not we will act in faith according to what God has spoken.
Zacharias went home and a short time later his wife Elizabeth conceived a child, just as the angel had promised. Elizabeth asked now questions, instead the Bible tells us that she hid herself away and gave God praise for His great love, kindness and answer to her prayers. I am confident today that there are things that God has spoken to your heart that He desires to do in and through and even for you. My prayer is that you and I will stop judging the validity of God’s voice according to our circumstances and that we will take God at His Word, trust His love and power and begin to purpose, order and live our lives according to who God is and what God has said. Let’s take God at His word and live lives that constantly ask and pursue the question “what now?” and lets put away the nagging “what if?” that often tries to rob us of the miraculous opportunities that God has planned and prepared for us to walk in.