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December 12 
Luke 1: 5-7 5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Here, in some ways, we have the repetition of a story we have already heard, a childless couple who longed for a child. But in other ways this is a different story, for a different time. Zechariah was a priest, like his descendants before him. He steeped himself in the religious life and was a man of deep faith. His wife Elizabeth was an equally spiritual person. They has almost certainly spent years praying for a child, but it had neve happened. The little bit of their story that we have here doesn’t tell the whole, just a snippet of it. After long years of waiting and hoping and praying and losing hope, Zechariah received a visitation from an angel, who told him that he and Elizabeth would finally have the child they longed for. And Zechariah’s response? Well he questioned and he doubted the news brought to him from God! The man of God just couldn’t believe God’s promise to him; that his prayer had been answered, that he would have a son. Prayer can be a strange thing, can’t it? We can spend many hours asking of God, yet struggle when our prayers are answered. It can be difficult to hold on to the truth that God will always respond, but in His time. Zechariah and Elizabeth waited a long time for their heart’s desire. In this season of Advent, we are reminded once more that this is a time of waiting for the world, and in His time, God will come again in Christ.
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