In Luke 1.5-25, Zechariah has a once-in-a-lifetime experience with God.
First of all, he is chosen by lot to offer incense in the Holy Place at the Temple. Since there were thousands of priests to choose from, any individual minister might never get the opportunity to do this for his entire life. Zechariah must have felt quite privileged to be singled out to perform this sacred service.
Then, when Zechariah enters the Temple, the angel Gabriel appears to him! Finally, to top it all off, Gabriel announces that Zechariah and Elizabeth are going to have a baby in their old age, and not just any baby. Their child will be the promised forerunner to the Messiah, foretold by the First Testament prophets. He hit the jackpot!
Well, all of this is too much for poor Zechariah. He just can't bring himself to believe that God would have such an assignment for his wife and him. People of humble faith like this often have a hard time accepting that God wants to use them for something great. With a gentle rebuke, the angel tells Zechariah that he will have nine months of silence to come to grips with this new reality; he will be mute and his mouth opened only when the baby is born.
The transformed priest stumbles out of the Temple and plays charades with the crowd outside, who realize that something must have happened in the sanctuary. How would you communicate, without words, an experience like that?
Our God is not only One who sustains us day by day through all the ups and downs of our lives. That had been this faithful couple's testimony for many years, and it is a wonderful fact of spiritual experience. But God is also the living One who may intervene to surprise us in ways we cannot imagine. It is understandable that we might be taken aback when that happens. But we must also be ready to accept the revelation.
Beware! You never know when there might be an angel around the corner with an assignment for you.
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