Too Good to be True Luke 1:64-68

“Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it asking, ‘What then is this child going to be?’ For the Lord’s hand was with him. His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.” (Luke 1:64-68) NIV

Random Thoughts:

Just as Gabriel predicted months before, Zechariah’s tongue (silenced for his unbelief in God’s ability to keep his promises) is loosed at the very instant he names his son “John” according to God’s will. And in answer to the question on everyone else’s tongue, “What then is this child going to be?”, Zechariah’s first words utter the answer: part of God’s promise. 

What I love even more about Zechariah’s response is that the first word out of his mouth  in nine months is the Hebrew equivalent of “Awesome!”. He praises God for the awesome truth he now understands. God keeps his promises, no matter how long it has taken and no matter how impossible it may seem.

Not only are Zechariah and Elizabeth recipients of God’s wonderful blessing--a child in their old age--they are blessed with the greatest blessing of all: poised on the historical edge of seeing the promise of God come true. The promise God made to Abraham. The promise made even further back in the garden. God is about to rescue humanity itself and this time, Zechariah is bursting with joy because he knows something he didn’t know before. He knows God can do it.

Question:

What promise of God do you dare to hope for but still wonder at times if it’s too good to be true? 

Journal Response:

My daughter just asked me a question the other morning that touched on perhaps God’s biggest promise of all: heaven. She wondered if eternity could really be all its cracked up to be--it is a very long time, after all. All the time in the world. And when we think of what we’ll do there (forever no less) it’s so hard to even begin to imagine. Just learning everything I’ve ever wanted to learn could take a while, of course, but eternity? Then I remember how rhythmically challenged and uncoordinated I am and think, yeah, it will totally take eternity before I can master the drums. 

I have to admit that while most of the time I long for a version of heaven I have dreamed of for so many years, there are times when a nagging little doubt will enter my thoughts too. What if...? I love to cook. Will He let me cook for Him? I love to garden--can I get to be a gardener? I love animals--what will they be like? Will they talk as they once did in the garden? (Or at least the snakes!). Yep, these are the real thoughts of a real adult. No kidding. And I still lick the paddle when I make cookies. 

God promises us so much about this place. Far from the fluffy “lightness of being” that to my way of thinking sounds so dull, it seems I am in good company with those who share the expectation that it’s going to be amazing. And real. We all have our image of what it may be like and I like mine tremendously. You know that “happy place” we’re told to go when things get unbearable? That’s where I go; my version of what heaven might be like. Green everywhere, meadows, stone cottages and lots and lots of sunshine. And Him. I often wonder, will I actually get to spend time with Him? Personal time? And how can that be when there will be millions upon millions of us? 

I know. Silly thoughts. When I read David Alcorn’s book, simply entitled, Heaven, however, I felt less silly. It seems there are plenty of scriptures indicating that heaven really is “heaven on earth” but an earth where God finally creates the Garden in its entirety. But here. I love that idea. 

When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, he showed them his physical body and sat down to eat physical food with them. He was giving us a glimpse into the promise awaiting us. But he also walked through walls. Definitely a step up from the “norm”. I don’t know what we will find but it is a promise of God’s that it will be ours--His gift to us--and it will be wonderful. Too good to be true? I am counting on it.