The Paradox of Blessing
Yesterday I talked about God using Zacharias and Elizabeth for the birth of John the Baptist. I emphasized the possibility of how their obedience to the Lord put them in the position of being used by God. If you didn’t read yesterday’s post I encourage you to do that at the following link /?p=2190 . But today I want to focus on verses 6 and 7 from Luke 1: 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
Even though Zacharias and Elizabeth were “righteous before God and blameless”, Elizabeth was still barren and it appeared that she was well beyond child bearing years. From any practical standpoint it seemed like God had “cursed” this couple; not blessed this couple. In the culture of the day, being childless was definitely seen as a curse from God. I’m sure there were people who talked behind Zacharias and Elizabeth’s backs, wondering what “secret” sins they were committing that led to their lack of a child.
But it is this lack of a child that ultimately becomes part of the great blessing that God has for them. The barrenness is actually a blessing, a sort of paradox of blessing. I wonder what would have happened if Zacharias and Elizabeth had “given up on God” because they had no children. What if ten years before the events recorded in Luke 1, Zacharias had resigned from the priesthood and turned his back on God because God wasn’t meeting his needs. I fear that this sort of thing happens all of the time. I know I’ve been tempted to do this two times in my life and I’m very glad that I didn’t do it. I’m very glad today that I didn’t walk away from God back then.
How about you? Are you going through a time right now where God isn’t really “meeting your needs” as you see it? Perhaps you can learn from Zacharias and Elizabeth (of course, I’m not predicting a baby in your future) and stay the course with God. You won’t be disappointed in the end. To walk away from God means to walk toward something or someone else and that person or thing doesn’t love you like God loves you.