Even though the fig trees have no fruit and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die and the cattle stalls are empty, I will still be joyful and glad, because the LORD God is my savior. – Habakkuk 3:17,18 GNT
It must have really impacted me. I wrote something in 2012, updated it in 2017, and then apparently ran the original in 2018. Today, with some additions and editing, we’re using the 2017 version. But first…
Maybe you know the feeling. You’ve prayed and prayed for something, but while you don’t see answers, other things, answers to prayers you never prayed, happen instead.
We hear a lot these days about “deconstructing faith” and on Twitter a few weeks ago, I wrote:
With regard to deconstruction:
Could it be that in some cases,
The elephant in the room
is unanswered prayer?
Despite the glaring omission of a key sign of God’s blessing, the two people in today’s narrative were “careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God.” Spiritually speaking, they were doing everything right, but, they worshiped God in the middle of personal trial.
For some, Christmas is like this. It’s hard to suffer, to undergo trials, to grieve, etc. when everybody around you is pre-programmed for celebration…
One time our pastor considered the familiar story from Luke 1 of the angel Gabriel’s visit to Zachariah:
(MSG) 5-7 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.
Our pastor mentioned that for a woman, being married to a Levite (a descendant of Aaron) was enough to elevate your status in that community. And needless to say, being a Levitical priest was the equivalent of being a doctor or lawyer or senator/congressman/member of parliament.
They had the pedigree. They had the position.
So in terms of status they had it all. But on top of that,
“They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.” (vs. 6 NASB)
But one thing was missing. There was one thing they lacked.
Having a child was a sign of God’s blessing. And they were childless, and they were very, very old; too old for that situation to change. A rather odd incongruity, don’t you think? People back then did, though they probably whispered it, not wanting Z. and E. to hear. Perhaps no one had yet written a book reminding everyone that “bad things happen to good people.”
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught
(AMP) Matt 5: 45b …He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].
With Zachariah and Elizabeth, I think the contrast was especially striking.
I get two things from this story-within-a-story.
First of all, everybody you know has some thing or things in their lives that are less than perfect. Less than complete. Less than fulfilling. You may see an individual or couple or family that appears to have it all together, but in fact, there are circumstances in their lives that break their heart(s). Financial challenges. Marital frustrations. Physical health problems that you don’t see. Children (or parents) or are estranged. A demoralizing job. Depression. Past regrets. Constantly comparing their situation to other peoples’ lives. (Maybe even yours!)
Elizabeth and Zachariah had it all, except for one obvious, glaring thing; something that in their case wasn’t hidden.
Everyone has something they live with.
You know what? Even when things are going relative well, everybody has something that humbles them. Everyone has something about which they are hypersensitive. Everybody experiences what it’s like to covet someone else’s gifts and abilities.
Maybe you can’t cook anything beyond making toast.
Maybe you can’t do your own tax returns.
Maybe you can’t land a basket when shooting hoops to save your life.
Maybe you’re short.
Maybe you’re short on cash all the time.
Maybe you are tone deaf and church singing serves as a constant reminder.
Maybe you’re terrible at open heart surgery.
But more so
Maybe you have a family member who is estranged from the rest of you.
Maybe you have been trying for a year to land a steady job.
Maybe you have a medical problem you long to see healed.
Maybe you’re lacking close, personal friendships.
Maybe you feel like you’re wasting a lot time, squandering your days.
Maybe your housing situation is less than ideal.
Maybe your depression is affecting everything from moods to appetite.
We’re all terribly aware of our inadequacies and challenges. Maybe they aren’t as big a deal as some of the more serious challenges others face, but they haunt our prayer life and cause us to approach life with pessimism, cynicism, fatalism, resignation and defeat. In other words, the challenge to worship God through our circumstances and situations applies to everyone, not just the people facing the more frequently discussed giant mountains.
Secondly — and this is similar but different — living righteously and blamelessly is no guarantee that circumstances are going to change. It did for this couple, but that’s why we call it a miracle. Couples of advanced age don’t usually experience a pregnancy.
And I don’t for a minute believe that they were walking uprightly in the hope that God was going to do what He in fact did. That option had expired. They were both past their sell-by / best-before date when it came to progeny. They weren’t ‘giving to get.’
They were “careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations” (NLT) or “statutes” (ESV) because it was the right thing to do. It was who they were. It was their response to who God is. Their lives were lives of worship to God despite personal setbacks and frustrations.
David writes,
I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. – Luke 1:6 NIV
Christianity 201 