Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Over the years I have seen some pretty amazing things happen when God chooses to intervene in the normal course of events and WORK HIS PLAN. I have seen pain removed, healing take place, spirits of oppression cast out, and new life restored. Dreams and hopes that had long since been given up on — restored.

Here we see an angel of God coming to Zechariah and telling him that a major miracle was about to happen. His old, barren wife was about to give birth from his seed to a son. And not just any son, the second coming of Elijah. When we pray and pray, and cry out and cry out to God for something for so long … it can be hard to truly believe. We also see here that this baby was to “turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

What an awesome honor placed on them to have a child who is set apart at birth for greatness in God! As we shall see, this setting apart did not come without trials or much sacrifice for this baby later to be named John the Baptist. But God recognized the unwavering faithfulness of Zechariah and Elizabeth and gave them this honor.

I want God to see how faithful I am and be able to count on me to do great things, like parent a “called out” servant of the Lord.

Lord, thank you for recognizing the steadfast faith of Zechariah and Elizabeth! May I fight and claw and grit the teeth of my soul to cling to and build my faith in the trenches of life — in the tough times and the good times.