To me, the biggest thing God showed me in this devotion is that God will test your patience AND faithfulness no matter who or what you have done. Zechariah and Elizabeth were very righteous and faithful people to God. Zechariah was a priest of God and Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. In verse 6 it says “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” For those who do not know, being unable to have a child back in this time was seen as God cursing that family for a sin they committed and seen as shameful. This leads you to wonder, why would God curse a family that was seen as righteous before God? Well, you could see it as God testing their faith to see if they would get mad, give up, and turn away from God. As you can see they did not. They remained faithful!

I feel like a point that the author of the devotion missed is that patience and faithfulness can go hand in hand. I feel like that is a problem many young people face today. They ask God for something to happen and when it takes too long or they don’t get it, they turn away from Him. Zechariah and Elizabeth remained faithful to God for 60 years waiting for a child! That’s a pretty long time waiting for a child if you ask me. I’m sure during those 60 years Elizabeth had to wonder why God would not let her have a child. But you can now see that her baby grew up to be an important figure in Bible history (John the Baptist) and how God’s perfectly timed plan had been revealed. This is to remind you that God has a plan for all of us. And there is always a reason why He answers the way He does, whether it be yes, no, or wait 60 years.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55: 8-9

We must remember that sometimes His answer will be “no”. You might be heartbroken at first, but always remember: He has not left you. He was with you from birth to now and boy does He have a marvelous plan for you! Though times may get tough, you may fall, you may stumble, He might tell you no, or wait 60 years, but one thing is for sure: He will never abandon you. Call on Him and He will give you the strength to be have patience and be faithful.