The Twenty-first Day of Advent: When Our Belief Is Tested

I’ll never forget the day I realized there was a difference between believing in God and believing God. I was with friends of mine and they were talking about different ways God had moved and impacted their lives. Some stories were miraculous, others more subtle. When they gave me a chance to share my great “glory story”, I had nothing. I realized that I wasn’t sure God was working in my life. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if God wanted to work in my life.

In today’s Gospel, we see God promise the impossible to Zechariah. Zechariah doubts God’s plan for a moment and because of that is left unable to speak until the birth of his son, John. Yet, the question I find myself asking is: would Zechariah have doubted if he wasn’t promise this miracle? It seems that if God never intervened in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s life they probably would have continued on being devout and upright before the Lord. Yet, it is when Zechariah is placed in a position of expectation and waiting that belief becomes hard.

Isn’t the same true for us today? Let’s face it – it isn’t that difficult to believe that somewhere there is a powerful being sitting on his high throne. It is believing that this higher being is a loving God who desires to encounter us with His love, grace and mercy on a daily basis that is the challenge.

God’s promise to provide daily bread is not just a nicety. He promises to take care of our needs and even our deepest desires. He is always at work in our lives in a personal, intimate way. Do you believe God is working in your life today? How can you expect God to lavish you with His love this week?

— Kris Frank is a nationally known speaker at events such as The Steubenville Conferences. Follow him on Twitter @krisfrank