Taken from: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/christmas-devotionals/
You might be reading this and wishing for your own miracle this Christmas. It's probably much smaller than what makes a holiday movie. But it no less important to you.
Maybe you're hoping our prodigal comes home. Maybe you're wishing for a job. Some are yearning for a special someone to sit next to you by the fire.
2,000 years ago, there was a couple who hoped for their own miracle. But like many, they had long given up on this dream. Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for a child, but year after year, that prayer went unfulfilled. So, they gave up on the dream.
But this couple didn't give up on God. They stayed faithful. Then, one ordinary day, the extraordinary happened. Zechariah, a priest in Israel, was chosen to give the incense at the altar. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, a rare honor for such a common man. Then, as he performed this sacred duty, an angel of God appeared, breaking God's 400-year silence with Israel.
The angel told Zechariah that he and his wife, Elizabeth would have a son after all. He would have a special purpose an would prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.
This all sounded impossible to Zechariah. Not the miracle itself—that Jesus would come, that John would be the forerunner. Zechariah, as a believing Jew, knew the Scriptures and believed this.
He just had a hard time thinking God could use silly old him. After all, he and his wife were well past the child-bearing age. But, true to His word, God performed this miracle in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. You know the rest of the story. John the Baptist led revival in Israel and would later baptize Jesus Christ, the very son of God.
But let's focus on Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were faithful people in a time of unfaithfulness. And yet they had given up on the dream God had planted in their hearts—the dream of having a son. What's interesting is that Zechariah had no problem with the big miracle: God sending a Son to be born of a virgin and be the Savior. It was the little miracle he had trouble with, the miracle in his own life. Even though God had done a similar thing in Sarah, Hannah, Rebekah, Rachel, Zechariah refused to believe his wife, Elizabeth could bear a child.
He did something we often do. We believe in the big things of God—sending a son to be our Savior, Creation, Heaven—but when it comes to littler miracles, we limit Him. It's as if we say, Yes, God can create the earth in six days, be born of a baby, and send us to Heaven, but He can't possibly change me, fix a relationship, get me a job.
And God's answer is Yes I can. You see, the biggest miracle has already been done—Jesus. Everything else is small to God.
So maybe today, like Zechariah you're letting God know that there is something too big for Him. Something even He can't fix.
And the story of Zechariah tells us that there is nothing too hard and that God is still in the business of doing miracles. Even in your own life.
Taken from: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/christmas-devotionals/
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