[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide. We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]
What Happens When the Answer is “Yes” by Mark Robinson
Read: Luke 1:57-66
Have you ever wanted something for a very long time, but never got it? Maybe you wanted a new toy, a new car, a new house, or a new job. Day after day you found your quiet moments spent thinking about the thing you did not have. Perhaps you spent a fair amount of time praying for God to give you this new thing or working hard to save the money to be able to buy it.
Did you ever get the thing you wanted? Sometimes we do, and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes when we don’t get the thing we wanted, we get angry with God. Many times, when we do get the thing we wanted, we simply enjoy the new thing (and forget about the God who gave it to us!)
In the Christmas story in the Bible, there are two people who wanted something for a very long time. Their names were Zechariah and Elisabeth. What they wanted, though, was not a thing . . . it was a person. Zechariah and Elisabeth had no children of their own, and for decades they had asked God to give them a child . . . but the answer was always “no.” Finally after years and years of waiting, God finally gave Zechariah and Elisabeth a baby . . . Jesus’s cousin, John (who would grow up to be John the Baptist.)
Zechariah and Elisabeth finally had their baby in Luke 1:57-66. After the baby was born, Zechariah gave all of us an example to follow when God finally gives us what we have always wanted. Instead of forgetting about God when they finally got what they wanted, they praise God, making the birth of the child all about God and what He was doing instead of about them. This perspective is life changing for anyone who embraces it. Life is about giving God glory, not about what we have or what we can get.
Questions
- What is something that you have prayed for a long time?
- When something goes well for you, do you remember to thank God for His provision?
Advent Prayer
- Take a moment to praise God in prayer for what He has given you.