Starting Point: City of Doubt

Destination: Mountain top City of Faith

God Direction: You are in the City of Doubt. You may remember that you arrived by the Freeway of Broken Dreams. Do not linger! Those who remain too long become a permanent resident.  You will make ties that are hard to break. Quickly move on by way of the Highway of trials and suffering. Follow it up the Mountain of Faith. It will be a long hard trip but worth it. The road is winding, there is a little shoulder with a rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other. Do not look back or you will go over. Keep your eyes fixed on the light that goes ahead of you. Toward the top, the road will be snow covered and slick. Keep steady and trust your guide. The road will open up to a mountain top plateau. There you will see the City of Faith. It will be stunning. All who visit take it with them when they leave.

You may be thinking that these directions are straight forward but very confusing. How did I get to the city of Doubt? I don't remember the freeway of Broken Dreams. All of us have doubt. As we get older we go through moments in which our dreams are lost. Some of us those dreams are all we have to look forward to in this life. They are what we have worked for and put all of our efforts in, but those dreams where our dreams formed by our understanding of this world. God, on the other hand, has a plan for each of us. Often these plans are different than our dreams but if we trust and follow they are greater and more fulfilling. Let's look at two people in whom their lives will be changed by an act of God, but they have different reactions to this.

Luke 1: 5-20: In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
    Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
    Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
    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 answered, “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 proper time.” ¹

Zechariah must of had dreams. Especially the dream of being a dad. In his time, fatherhood was important, if you didn't have children it was thought that you must have made God mad. But we learn in these verses that he was "upright in the sight of God." Even though they prayed for children, Zechariah was surprised when an Angel appeared and announced that he was going to have a son. Even though he was a priest and had to of known of the story of Abraham having a son in his old age, Zechariah still questioned and wanted a sign to know for sure. Zechariah, in his old age, doubted.

Luke 1:26-38 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
    Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
    “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
    The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
    “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.²

Mary's response is different. She is young and though she questioned, it was more from confusion than doubt. Look at her response when the Angel explained it to her, she answered "may it be to me as you have said." What she was told was much more unbelievable than what Zechariah was told.

Why do we doubt? Is anything impossible with God? Well, I doubt not because of what God has done but because He doesn't do things the way I think He should. How arrogant of me. Just because I don't understand doesn't mean God can't do it. I don't know everything. Just because I feel I deserve it, isn't a good reason for God to give to me or do for me what I want. Imagine if I received what I deserved. I shudder at the thought. I was listening to the radio and someone remarked that they wished they could go back in time to see Jesus. Then he said that it would be God's poetic justice to put him on the cross next to Jesus. That is what we deserve. Thank God that we have a God that is bigger than us, knows more than we do, and is full of Grace.

Let's pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for being You. Forgive me for not trusting and doubting your plans for me. I want to trust, help me to trust you more. In Christ's Name I pray, Amen.

¹The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Lk 1:5-20). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
²The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Lk 1:26-38). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.