Say What?
When the angel gives the news to Zacharias that he and Elizabeth are going to have a son, Zacharias’ ability to speak is taken away. Since Zacharias was alone in the temple when he was “silenced” he has to communicate this information to everyone else. There is a particularly important person that he has to communicate this to and that is Elizabeth, his wife. She was not with him in Jerusalem and so he returns home with a “little surprise”. It wasn’t that Zacharias couldn’t communicate it is just that he couldn’t talk. He clearly communicated what the angel said to him to his wife; probably VERY QUICKLY after he arrived home!
I wonder what Elizabeth’s reaction was? Possibly she said, “Say what?” in Hebrew of course; and even though Zacharias couldn’t “say” anything. She is a real heroine of this story. She believes Zacharias and God does exactly what He said He was going to do. She conceives and gives birth to a baby boy. We also see how Elizabeth believed in Luke 1:60 when Elizabeth insists that the baby be named “John”; despite the urgings of others to name the baby after his father. We also see Elizabeth’s faith and trust in God during her dealings with Mary in Luke 1:39-45 which I’ll write about next week.
What do you do when God “says” something to you that is surprising or even unbelievable? You’re probably not going to get to see an angel, and as much as you might like, God is probably not going to make your spouse go silent for nine months; but if we read God’s word regularly, the Spirit of God reminds us and convicts us of things that can surprise us. We see examples of sin that we have overlooked in our own lives. We see examples of service and good works that are lacking in our lives. God brings to our mind people that He wants us to speak with or serve. God definitely does gives us “say what?” moments. Do we ignore them? Do we, like Elizabeth, follow what God has said? The “say what?” moments are truly a blessing from God and give us a chance to put Him to the test and to experience His power and blessing in our lives or through our lives….don’t miss them!