Does What I Say Matter?

Each year during the holidays, I like to take some time to look at the Christmas story as recorded in the Bible.  The Bible is like an exquisite dish of Italian lasagna that is jam packed with layers of rich ingredients.  The more you dig into it, the more amazing flavors and taste tantalizing delights you’ll find!  (Wow… Do you remember that Christmas story that talks about the kids having visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads… I must have visions of Lasagna in my head, since my mom is giving us some lasagna for dinner tonight!!!)  

When I re-read familiar stories in the Bible, I therefore always expect  to receive some new revelations from them.  Last week as I studied the story of the birth of Christ in the books of Matthew (chapter 2) and Luke (chapters 2&3) I was not disappointed.  While intently observing the events that unfolded, I was intrigued to see how many supernatural visitations of heavenly beings were involved in this world changing historical event.  I definitely got the impression that God did not want there to be any mess-ups with His plan!

Today as I read the account of Zechariah and his visit from the angel Gabriel announcing the news that the elderly priest and his long past child bearing age wife would have a son, I thought of how this situation is like the ones that we all face on a regular basis.  Now don’t get me wrong, here… I am not talking about news of having a baby, but about the reaction that Zechariah had when he was faced with the decision to believe or not believe a bit of news that went against their years of negative circumstances.

Have you ever been believing for some positive event to happen and after awhile began to give up when it looked like it just wasn’t going to occur?  I know that I have some times in the last few months that something inside of me wanted to yell out “I give up!”  But yet, I have never given voice to that unbelief because my foundation is based on my understanding that no seemingly impossible situation can cause God’s word to fail!  The angel Gabriel set this principle forth in the very beginning of the New Testament when he told Mary, a little after his encounter with Zechariah, that “nothing is impossible for God!” (Luke 1:37, God’s Word©)  By not giving voice to the negative thought, I followed the example that Gabriel gave to Zechariah.  The old priest and his wife had believed to have a child their whole married lives, but it was to no avail and now when he was around 99 years old, an angel appears and tells him to get down to Walmart to buy some diapers… Yeah, come on… there’s no way… not now!  But God had a plan, and in order for it to work He needed Zechariah’s agreement.  It was imperative that Zechariah’s words lined up with what was going to happen to his wife Elizabeth.  He didn’t want Zechariah to go around spreading his negative views and thereby spoil the plan that was established before the beginning of time.  So what did the angel do to guarantee the plan of God?  He shut Zechariah’s mouth!  He told the priest that he would not be able to speak until their son was born… and it happened just as the angel said!  (See Luke 1:20)

Our spoken words can have a great affect on what is happening around us.  Once you have set your goal for something good to come to past, never give up!  Resist the urge to mutter those little complaints when it seems to be taking a long time for your positive goals to occur.  Once again, trust in your foundation (or change it if it’s not working!), hold fast  to your can-do attitude and see your plans through until they manifest themselves in your lives!  Look at Zechariah… a year later, at 100 years old, he was the man of the hour passing out cigars at the temple gates!  Stay tuned, and keep asking yourself, “What am I expecting today!”