But let's not forget that this old man had been living with years of disapp-ointment: he'd prayed for a child (vs 13), nothing had happened, and now, in their old age, it seemed as if it were too late. Perhaps Zechariah interpreted their childlessness as a sign of God's displeasure towards him. It's probably hard to believe good news when you see God through an assumption that things aren't going to work out well for you.
I suppose, for example, that it would be hard for me to grasp if someone came and told me I was going to be completely healed of arthritis. Not because I'm aware of living with any major disappointment, but quite simply because I've been prayed for many times, without there being the sort of noticeable change that you would chalk up to a "miraculous" healing. Even with my cat, Teddi, and his rather amazing recovery from a thyroid condition last year, it's hard not to be swayed by the vet's conviction that his health improvement is "too good to be true." Any sign of dandruff or a slightly greasy coat can so easily spark a concern that he might need medication again.
So let's not be too hard on Zechariah, an old man whose faith was filtered through the lens of his disappointment. God "muted" Zechariah's words of unbelief for a while, and gave him his voice back when the old man was full of faith and vision again. Let's take a warning from that for ourselves: if life has been hard, if there have been disappointments, if things haven't worked out the way that we hoped for.... let's not allow that to influence our picture of who God is and what He may be desiring to do in us and through us. Sometimes our miracle is just around the corner.... and other times our miracle is the evidence of what God does in our lives despite the thing that didn't turn out the way we hoped for.
Read on below for the story of another man who was dealing with disappointment.
