This week we’re studying Luke 1:5-25 and 1:67-80.  In these passages, we see a man named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth give their lives faithfully to God.  As they aged, the struggled to have children – yet God was faithful to them.  Since everything is possible with God, we see God use this situation to not only show his faithfulness in giving a child – but blessing them with a child who would prepare the way for Jesus.  His name? John the Baptist.

As I’m studying this passage this week, our church had a few application questions and I wanted to share.  I challenge you to try these questions, they really shed a lot of light on the things I need to entrust to God.

How has God been/is being faithful to me?

• Introduced me to church, then called me to faith
• Gave me a Godly husband, even when I wasn’t always looking for one
• Gave me a church I can call home
• Gave me a family
• Gives me community with other believers
• Gives me hope
• Blesses me with resources I can share/give

What do I desire more than God?

• Comfort:  I’m always trying to structure my life so that I can have the elusive notion of “balance”.
• Accomplishment: I’m always looking to assign value to the things I accomplish.  I struggle with this on a daily basis, always wanting to look back on a day and say I did something.
• To be Liked: I desire that others would like me, respect me, admire me.  If someone doesn’t , I desire more than anything to earn it.

What breeds worry and hope for change? What does Scripture say about these areas?

• Job:  I constantly worry about travel, meetings, and deadlines. I worry about my age, what to wear, getting prepared.  Jesus says “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.  Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which  of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  If then you are not able to do a small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest”
• Serving two masters: The scriptures warn about “where your treasure is, there will be your heart also”.  I pray and hope for change in the areas that I desire more than God.  I pray that I could seek God first, and bank on his promises to give me freedom over anything that tries to enslave me.