God's Blessings In Good Times And Bad

“Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.’ 

The angel said to him, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.'” Luke 1:18-20 (NIV) 

Sometimes we are so stuck in a mindset of things being bad, and continually being bad, that it is hard to muster the faith to believe improvement is on the way. 

That was Zechariah’s state of mind. Imagine that an angel, a holy being who stands in the presence of Almighty God, steps into your home bringing a message of hope from God. You would think the normal response would be to fall on your knees and praise God, and not argue with the angel or point out what the angel is saying is unlikely or impossible. 

God was telling Zechariah to prepare for the birth of a child, a child of his very own. But Zechariah had long ago given up any hopes or dreams he had for children. Zechariah had no faith for the hope and possibility of something so good being birthed into his life. 

What hopes and dreams have you given up on? After time passes, and our hopes are continually disappointed, it is easy to become like Zechariah and believe that change is impossible. But we need to remember that with God all things are possible. 

Situations can sometimes appear very bleak. We find ourselves in a rut of disappointed hopes and we begin to think our circumstances are beyond change, perhaps even beyond God’s ability to change. But if we do that we fail to give God the credit He deserves. He is quite capable of turning our hopeless situations around and moving the obstacles that are blocking our hopes and dreams. 

It is human nature to rely upon what we can see with our own eyes, but often our vision is limited. If we could see six months or a year down the road we might be amazed at how God changes things. Do not be discouraged by the impossible situations that face you. 

Remember that we have a powerful God on our side, call upon Him for His help, and believe that He can make the impossible possible. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to keep faith, to keep trusting You and believing You can make the impossible possible. Amen. 

Karlton Douglas  

Copyright 2017