Luke 1:56-66
"Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him."
Zechariah experienced disciplining action by God. When Lord wanted to grant him a child the first time, he didn't believe it, and back in verse 18 he said he and his wife were already too old. Isn't this our attitude too? What can we possibly do for God? Can God still accomplish any great things in us? Have you heard the term "old Christians?" The "old" doesn't mean they have believed in the Lord for a long time, in fact some Christians become "old" as soon as they accept the Lord! "Old Christians" are those who have already lost great expectations for God. Do you still have great expectations for God? In the Bible, we saw that God used lots of old people: Moses was called when he was 80, Abraham at 75, and Caleb was called to attack Hebron when he was 85. In Gospel of Luke chapter 2, God revealed Himself to two old people, Anna and Simeon. Not only were old people used, God also used children. In the story of five bread and two fish, a child offered his bread and fish and a miracle took place. God also used young people like Timothy, middle-age people like Paul, and women such as Deborah and Priscilla.
God likes to use us, but unbelief is the biggest obstacle for the believers. In Matthew 13:58, Jesus did not perform many miracles in Nazareth because people there did not believe in Him. It's hard for us to see God's work nowadays, not because God doesn't perform miracles any more, but because we don't have enough faith or just have little faith. May God help us to understand to come before Him everyday in our daily life and to live by faith but not by sight. What we see can change and they are temporary, and what we can see also make our hearts die. May God give us a spirit of believing again. Because of unbelief, Zechariah lost his voice. God's discipline came upon him and he had to humble himself. When he went before God and understood God's will, his mouth opened to praise God. We must often praise God, start our day with praising God and thanking God. No matter what the circumstance is today, we may proclaim by faith that today is a new day, and we can experience God's new grace and abundance, thus our faith will increase.
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