by Ron Fast
List some of the things that this "John" dude was going to accomplish when he grew up.
Wednesday
A God of Details
God is a God of details. That's one of the cool things about God. He always waits until the perfect time. God is NEVER in a hurry. Since God exists outside of time and space, He always knows just exactly the perfect time to do His God stuff. God really knows how to pick the right people for the job. Zacharias was one of maybe 18,000 priests who served in the temple. Zacharias served for one week twice a year at the temple.
To offer incense in the temple was a huge privilege for a priest because each priest only offered the incense once in their lifetime. Like I said before, God is never in a hurry. He had picked the right man for the job but He needed to wait until Zacharias' number was called for the incense burning thing. I suppose God could have picked someone else but He didn't. God picked Zacharias for some reason.
In Luke 1:13, the angel tells Zacharias that his prayer has been heard. Who heard his prayer?
What had Zacharias been praying for?
Read Luke 1:18 - Did Zacharias first believe the angel? Why or why not?
Read Luke 1:19 - What was Gabriel's response to Zacharias?
What did it mean when Gabriel said that he stands in the presence of God?
Why did Gabriel say that?
Zacharias doubted Gabriel's word. What happened to good ol' Zak because he doubted? (Read Luke 1:20)
Do you think that God was punishing Zak for his doubt?
So, do you think that it's a sin to doubt God? Why or why not?
Is faith the absence of doubt?
I’m pretty sure that all followers of Christ have doubts on a daily basis. God picked Zak not because he was a perfect person but because he had a heart for God. Also, he was probably very humble and obedient to God. Even as godly as Zak was, he still had doubts. Do you think that doubts hurt our faith in God?