When You Least Expect It


Prayer: “Blessed be the Lord God, for He has visited and redeemed His people.” (Luke 1:68a) Praises to You, God most High for You are worthy to receive worship and honor. Thank You for this amazing Word and for the chance to read it, study it, and allow it to inform my whole life. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Read: Luke 1:67-79
http://www.esvbible.org/search/Luke+1%3A67/

Thoughts: Waiting is the worst. No one likes it, but it is reality for all of us. There are times when we have to wait. But then the waiting ends and your name or number is called; it’s finally your turn. There’s a wonderful feeling of relief when the wait is   finally over and you can move on to the next event. Imagine you were living in a  Jewish community during the days of Jesus birth. Your people as a whole have been waiting since the time of Adam and Eve (or Abraham, or David) for the promised Messiah; and this is real waiting; several thousand years of waiting as a people for God to fulfill a promise.

And then the miraculous happens. After several thousand years God’s time has  finally arrived and the coming of the Holy One is about to happen in your backyard! You will be a part of His plan and really, you are no one special. A simple priest and his wife who have long ago given up the hope of having children. A young man waiting to claim his betrothed bride. An unremarkable teenage girl in a small village. These are the regular folks who have been chosen by God to play out the fulfillment of dozens of prophecies spoken over generations of people. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah is able to put together all that he has learned about the coming of God’s Savior with the birth of his son, John and the future of God’s people. He speaks of the past as God promised the Messiah (verses 68-75) and about the future as the light of our redemption shines forth in the Holy Child. Zechariah must have spent the rest of his life in awe of God’s plan and he probably kept a close eye not only on his son, John, but also on Mary’s Son, Jesus.

These simple, regular people were used by God to bring about the rescue of the whole world from the clutches of sin. That is how God operates. He comes when least expected and operates in a way that comes as a complete surprise. And not once in all of Scriptures does He use someone who already has it all together and has resources of their own to complete the assigned task. No, he chooses people like you and me who need Him to do the whole task, simply using us as His tools. So when you least expect it, look for God to move in your life and bring about something great!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please use me however You see fit. Help me to be prepared to watch You in action as You fill up my life with opportunities to serve and love others because of who You make me to be and how You resource me for Your work. May I serve You well and with joy. Because of Jesus I pray this. Amen.

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