Have you ever wondered about God’s timing? Maybe you’ve been praying for years for release from an addiction or from a chronic health condition. Maybe you’ve been praying even longer for a loved one to come to know Christ as Savior and Lord. And we’re all praying for peace in the Middle East, and for our own Federal politicians to learn to get along. Yes, we know God has promised never to leave us or forsake us. But in times like these, it’s so easy to feel disappointed and confused – and alone.

God’s people were in exactly the same situation when Gabriel showed up to talk with Zacharias. It had been 400 years since Malachi prophesied the coming of one who would prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6). All that time, God’s people had been watching and praying for such a messenger and then for the Messiah to come. But in announcing the birth of John the Baptist, God made it clear that He was preparing to keep Malachi’s promise. In just a few months, the messenger of the Lord would be born, and that meant that the Messiah’s coming couldn’t be much further off.

What does all that mean for us? Simply this: if we trust God to save us from our sins, and if we trust God to tell us what is right and wrong, then we must also trust His timing. We must trust Him to work out His will on His schedule, even if that means we have to wait for months or even years. For waiting for the Lord is one of the clearest ways that we express our trust in Him.

But this passage also teaches us that we can trust God to answer our prayers, sometimes in miraculous ways. After all, Zacharias and Elizabeth had long since lost hope of ever having children, but Gabriel insisted that they would be the parents of God’s promised messenger. Just so, we must remember that nothing is impossible for God. May this wonderful truth fuel our faith and keep us on our knees in prayer – even if we have to go on waiting.

Luke 1:5-17 (NASB)

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
7 And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
8 Now it came about, while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.
11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
12 And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear gripped him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.
14 “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother’s womb.
16 “And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 “And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”