Zechariah was a great man, but his unbelief almost cost him a miracle. While he was on duty in the temple, he had a once-in-a-lifetime visitation by an angel. It wasn’t just any angel. It was Gabriel. He was the messenger angel of God. During their encounter, Gabriel promised Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would conceive and have a child. This sounded great, but there was a slight problem with this. Zechariah and Elizabeth weren’t spring chickens. They had two strikes against them. Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and she was past menopause. It was a physical impossibility.
Zechariah heard the promise, but it sounded too good to be true. In response to the promise, Zechariah showed a lack of faith. Truthfully, he was trying to make sense of the miracle. Some miracles just don’t make sense. In the natural, they couldn’t have children. Nonetheless, Gabriel wasn’t about to let Zechariah off the hook with his unbelief. Gabriel said,
“But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.” (Luke 1:20)
As a result of Zechariah’s unbelief, he was made silent. Zechariah wasn’t made silent as a form of punishment. How do I know? It’s because scripture describes him as being a righteous man who observed all the Lord’s commandments (Luke 1:6). He was made silent by Gabriel because he didn’t want his mouth to cost him a miracle. Zechariah had prayed for years for this miracle, and he was about to talk himself out of it because of his unbelief.
Zechariah’s mouth almost cost him a miracle. God would rather you be silent than to speak something contrary to his promise for your life.
That’s why it’s important to align our faith and our words. The bible reminds us that the power of life and death are in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). We are also encouraged to think about what we think about. Paul said in Philippians 4:8, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Do you want another example? In the New Testament when the woman with the issue of blood approached Jesus for her miracle it was after she had rehearsed it in her mind. Scripture says in Matthew 9:21, “She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’” She believed it before she saw it. You’ve heard the phrase, “seeing is believing.” In the bible it should be, “believing is seeing.” That’s why it’s important that we think about what we think about. At times we also need to take every thought captive that doesn’t line up with the word of God.
If you’re waiting on a promise to be fulfilled in your life, I want to encourage you to attach scripture to your faith. I often remind myself, “Rehearse the promises, not the problems.” As I begin to quote and pray scripture, I begin to align my faith with his Word. When I align my faith with his Word, He always gets the last word!
