The Process of a Promise Part 1

Luke 1:11-14 “And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the alter of incense. And Zachariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”

The way this is translated is “The prayer which you no longer pray was heard.”

After the initial fear of the holiness of the angel wears off Zachariah’s heart is exposed in his response.

18 “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

He is looking at an angel of God and yet his dream is so dead, his heart so broken, faith so given out he literally is saying, its over for me.”

Gabriel replies, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.”

What’s interesting is in Jewish tradition the arch angels have specific duties assigned or associated with them. Gabriel means man of GOD. He is the messenger of restoration and peace. How interesting. A man of God directly sent from His presence came to bring a message of restoration and yet hope was so gone due to timing it was met with unbelief.

I cannot help but wonder how many Zachariah’s are around me right now. How many have had a promise, and a hope but time and circumstance, trials and situations have prolonged to the point of disbelief.

We come to the place where we say things like, maybe I missed God, or I made choices that aborted His plan…” all the while feeling the aching of the seed planted, but never grown, God placed inside of us.

Joseph…had a dream, and with great joy and maybe immaturity, he shared his dream with anyone who would listen. Not everyone is going tp rejoice with you, in Joesph’s case the response from his brother was the catalyst to his trials and launching into the process to the promise.

The answer for both of these men wasn’t no, it was not yet.

The importance of the process is everything. Two men, two dreams two different approaches. One goes through many years vacant of the fulfillment of the promise, the other through trial and testing. One seems to trust that the Lord will have his way, the other has totally given up. In both instances GOD SHOWS UP.