This is not only an extraordinary experience, but the message the angel gives Zechariah is almost too good to be true. Elizabeth and Zechariah won’t just have a son. They will have a son who will bring them great joy and gladness.
I can’t help but think about the impact of this moment. Zechariah goes into the Temple like any other time he has gone in during his entire adult life to perform the routine duties of his job, but then on this day he is given news that changes everything. Although we don’t have much background on this couple, we can assume that they have been living their lives in a certain amount of contentment and satisfaction, even without a child. After all, he is part of an elite group of priests, not just a common Israelite. Yet, now – in light of the realization of their destiny – what had seemed like a good life pales in comparison with their future.
This reminds me a great deal of my own life. Gennarino and I have lived an extraordinary life, riddled with moments of sorrow and joy, contentment and want, new adventures and mundane routines. We have had the privilege of being part of a move of God that was thrilling, stretching, and unique. We have also spent many years in wilderness experiences. Through all of it I have always felt the contentment of being in the place where God wanted us. Yet, in this move to Washington, I have had a renewed expectation of something great and grand that is about to happen and this verse reminds me that it can happen in the blink of an eye. One day I can go into work, like every other day of my life, and yet on that day everything might change. The profound point in all of this, however, is that the day before Zechariah entered the temple was just as ordained by God as the day he received the best news of his life.
I will live today with gratitude in my heart that all the days of my life are ordained by God, regardless of what might happen in the course of one of them.
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