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Luke 1:5-6 (The Message)

During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah.

His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth.

Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.


Zachariah and Elizabeth are some pretty wonderful characters...and the first that we meet in the Gospel of Luke.

We know this much: they are people of great faith, and great disappointment.

Isn't it interesting that those two things can live side-by-side. Sometimes, our world tells us that they can't.

If we get disappointed, we transfer those feelings of "failure" right over to God. We think that he's abandoned us, that our life is not turning out like it "should," and that God might not be worth serving after all.

In the culture of their time, marriages were evaluated largely on their ability to produce male offspring. Women were certainly judged in that way.

In those terms, Zachariah and Elizabeth had real reason to feel that God had not blessed them, and that their lives were disappointments.

And yet, "they lived honorably before God...enjoying a clear conscience..."

The circumstances of our lives do not define who we are, or our relationship with God.

God's love does not change. His plan for the world included Zachariah and Elizabeth. They would yet be the parents of John the Baptist, the herald of Jesus Christ.

But even if they hadn't...they would still have lived in peace and contentment.

For people of faith, circumstances don't define us...and God's love can do anything.

Prayer: Whatever we face today, help us remember that you are bigger than our "story." When we are tempted to doubt because things don't go our way, teach us that your plan could be unfolding all around us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Tomorrow's Scripture: Luke 1:8-15