Luke 1: 5-25

This section in the bible is one of my new favorites.

I should start out saying that if I am every lucky enough to get married and have my own children, my first son will be named Gabriel. I have always loved this name because of the great things that Gabriel did in the bible. He was the angel that was chosen to announce the birth of our messiah, Jesus. He was the one that is both feared and respected because of the good news he always has to announce.

However, until this past Sunday I didn't realize that Gabriel showed up in another place in the bible. His only memorable moment isn't just when he told Mary that she was going to give birth to the son of God. Gabriel also foretold the birth of John the Baptist.

But, I digress. I'm not here today to talk about Gabriel. I am here to talk about Zecariah. Zecariah was an old priest in his time. He was well respected and, from what I can guess, pretty popular among the people since he was given the honor of lighting the incesne in the temple. While there, Gabriel appeared to him and told him that his long standing prayer of wanting to be a father would finally be acknowledged. Like many humans, Zecariah could not believe it, especially since he and his wife were so old, by present standards, I'm thinking they were 70+ years old. This is usually way too old for a woman to get pregnant. For his doubt, Zecariah was to be sentenced to be unable to talk until his son was born.

On Sunday, my pastor told us that he wasn't only silenced as a punishment. He was silenced because this news was so great that God wanted to keep it just between himself, Zecariah, and Zecariah's wife, Elizabeth. Even Elizabeth went into hiding when her pregnant belly started to show.

God has an amazing way of connecting things to our lives when we most need them. After hearing this point of view from my pastor, I thought about it. That's what God is doing in my life right now with my sponsorship of Xhuliano. As my readers may know, I sponsored another child against the wishes of my mother (I'm 22 years old, I don't technically have to listen to her), but still. I decided that I just wouldn't tell her. In this decision, God showed me that it can be like Elizabeth's pregnancy. The news of me sponsoring Xhuliano is so great that I need to tell many people. It's enough that God and I are on the same page on this decision that it doesn't matter if others approve or disapprove. I'm just going to let myself revel in my happiness for awhile. It probably won't be for nine months like Zecariah, but for awhile.

Sometimes waiting is an excellent thing.