Advent
Meditation
November
29th
7.
Bound by Time
Luke
1:21-24 Meanwhile, the people
were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the
temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized
he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them
but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed,
he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and
for five months remained in seclusion.
There
are a whole variety of things that go to make life seem difficult sometimes,
and time is one of them. If only we were able to control and change
it, we think, if only I could stretch it out (so I could go on enjoying
this experience that I don't want to end), or if only I could shorten
it (so I could bring this difficult time to an end quickly). But no,
we are stuck with it. In our modern world we have fast food, or quick-drying
paint, things that speed up life for us, but have you noticed we haven't
managed to speed up how long it takes for a woman to carry a child and
bring it to birth; it's still nine months.
Nine
months! Nine months of silence for Zechariah. He's got his sign; God
CAN do things that actually affect him, that change his ability to speak.
Oh yes, when God's on the scene He can enable us to do a whole lot of
things we couldn't do on our own. That's one of the marvels of the Christian
life – but then perhaps you haven't plugged into that truth yet. Christianity
is all about God coming and changing us and enabling us to be people
who do things today that we couldn't do in the past. Or perhaps it's
to change us so that we don't do things we did in the past! You see
He's God, and He knows best, and when we open our lives to Him, He blesses
us in this way.
So
here is Zechariah, coming out of the innermost part of the Temple
with others waiting to congratulate him
on having performed this once-in-a-lifetime service – and he can't speak!
Something has obviously happened, but what? That's often the trouble
with encounters with God; they're not always easy to describe! Especially
when you can't speak! It's then down to an instant course in sign language.
But
he's got the message! When he returns home, somehow he conveys
something to Elizabeth his wife. Perhaps it's just that elderly couple
do still continue to express love to one another physically, but whatever
it is, probably to her total surprise, Elizabeth
finds herself pregnant! Hang on, she's
an old lady probably past child-bearing age, and all the years have
proved she's not capable of conceiving. Well she is now! That's what
we said, when God turns up, He enables us to do things we couldn't do
previously.
So
here are this elderly couple waiting out the nine months; Zechariah
possibly wondering if he'll get his speech back; Elizabeth
possibly wondering how she'll manage when
it comes to the birth. Two people waiting and wondering and the time
drags by, one day at a time, one hour at a time, just waiting. Oh yes,
there are times when we wish we could speed up time, but God has designed
things to work in certain ways and that often involves time. It takes
nine months for the foetus to develop so they're going to have to just
be patient and wait. Are there things you're feeling impatient about?
Come on, the lesson here is you can't rush things. You can do stuff,
pray more, or whatever, but some things just have to go their time –
unless God speeds it up – now there's a thought!
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tony.thomas@rochfordcc.co.uk
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