Faithbase

The story of Christmas Day 2, the beans, or the background. In the Old Testament, God spoke to his people through prophets. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that not only would a Messiah come, but also that there would be one who came before him to prepare God's people to be able to understand and really accept the Messiah. That man, sent to prepare the way, is John the Baptist. And not Baptist like we think of Baptist church today. John the Baptist means that he baptized people. So he was John the Baptizer. The verse, Luke chapter 1, verses 5 through 16, the birth of John the Baptist foretold. In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of the Abish. His wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly, but they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to call him John and he will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will never to take wine or for other fermented drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord, their God, the steam. What does this mean to me and how can I apply it to my life today? Before we even get to Jesus's birth, we have to stop and look at another miraculous birth, John. Here we have Zechariah and Elizabeth who had yearned for a baby their entire lives being promised a child and, spoiler alert, the angel who appears to Zechariah is the same angel who will soon visit Mary, Jesus's mother, informing her that she's pregnant with Jesus. Could this story be any cooler? By sending John the Baptist and Jesus, God is performing a miracle for all of humankind, yes, but also for Zechariah and Elizabeth. I don't want to be so overwhelmed by the story of Jesus that I don't remember Elizabeth, this sweet woman who had craved a child her entire life and was now receiving this amazing blessing. It certainly did not happen in the way or on the timeline that she would have wanted for herself, but look at how much bigger, how much better God's plan was than hers. Today we read the good part, the yes of Elizabeth's story. What we don't read about are the years of sadness and disappointment she must have felt as friends and family all had children around her. We don't read about the years of letdown and perceived silence from God. I say perceived because when we are praying for something and see zero evidence of an answer, we can't help but think God is being silent or ignoring us, when in reality that couldn't be further from the truth. God saw Elizabeth's entire story laid out and He knew what was best. Not only did He know what was best for her, but also what was best for all of God's people. Yes, that includes you and me. If Elizabeth had received her yes immediately and had a baby when she wanted to, then she would not have ever had John, the baby God needed to prepare hearts to receive Jesus. God does see us, He does hear us, and He does desire to give us good things, but we have to remember that not only does He see our full stories laid out, He sees all stories laid out. He sees how all of our stories are intricately woven together into a beautiful masterpiece. It's so hard for us to comprehend, but that's where faith and trust come into play. We have to trust that He knows what and when is best. Whatever it is your heart is yearning for, I want to encourage you that God does see you, He does hear you, He does love you, and He does desire to bless you. Keep praying, remain faithful, because your answer is being written.