In reflecting on this passage, it strikes me in verse 18 how Zechariah isn’t expecting the Lord to give him and Elizabeth a baby. 18 “And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.’” They weren’t waiting on God to do this; they hadn’t named and claimed a child from heaven. They had given up and accepted the reality of nature and age. God acts here for the sake of this couple (giving them a son to remove their shame), for the sake of Israel (giving them the prophet who makes way for the Messiah), for the sake of the world (by working out his promises for the seed of Abraham who will bless the nations).
I’ve had in my own life different periods where I’ve resigned myself to disappointment, accepting that God would not give what looked good for me in the immediate picture and good in the larger picture of his larger work. And then God acts after I’ve given up. Other times, God intervenes when I’m not looking for it. All this to say that the sovereign God acts when he acts – whether that’s in answer to our prayer, or despite a lack of prayer. Please don’t insert any bumper sticker slogans here – God acts when he acts. And when he does, it benefits the small and large, the individual, the church, and the world.
