Responding to Godspeak

How do we respond when God speaks? Looking at Zechariah’s and Mary’s responses to the messages from the Angel Gabriel in Luke 1, I think there are four reactions common to us all – and they generally come in this order.

First, we get an initial feeling of anxiety. I read the Bible nearly every day. Sometimes, it is as if the words leap out at me and say, “This is for you, Howard.” When I sense God pointing that Almighty finger at me, I don’t necessarily feel all warm and cozy. Some folks call it “awe” or “fear”. It is the sense that we are experiencing a sudden shift in our existential cosmos. When the angel appeared to Zechariah, the old man was “startled and gripped with fear.” (1:12)

It is only natural that we, like Mary and Zechariah, respond in fear or are troubled. In fact, God expects it of us. He is, after all, so much greater than us that His presence tends to be quite overwhelming.

When I was a teenager, I often led the Nursery Church. One Sunday a child asked what God looks like. So I turned the question back to the class. Another kid said, “He’s bigger than an elephant and when he comes in the room the whole house shakes.” To which the kids all laughed. An elephant was the biggest living thing they could imagine. So God was definitely bigger than that. They knew that more than just the house would shake if God came in.

Second, there is an insecurity that our status quo is threatened. Zechariah had always wanted to be a father and, like nearly every Jewish girl, Mary had longed to mother the Messiah. Yet even when that which we’ve always hoped for comes true, it leaves us weak in the knees. Few things are more comforting than the status quo. No matter how bad it gets at times, we generally prefer the “same old” to change. Change leaves us insecure.

Life is always changing, but we don’t like it when we notice it. When God moves in our lives, life is guaranteed to change. It won’t always seem that the change is for the better, at least not initially. So, it is natural that, like Zechariah and Mary we will feel insecure about it.

Third, questions come to mind. Mary and Zechariah both had questions. Mary asked how she was going to have this baby. Zechariah was asking the same thing about his wife having a baby, but Zechariah was also honest about his doubts.

Questions, doubts, clarifying hows, whys – these are all part of our response to God. I find great comfort in Zechariah’s response. After all he’s in the temple. Of all places to be voicing doubt! It’s a wonder he didn’t get fried with a bolt straight from heaven right there.

One thing is very clear from the Scriptures. God is not afraid of our feelings and he definitely welcomes us expressing them. If you don’t believe that, you’ll have to cut the Psalms (and a host of other passages) out of your Bible. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Unbelief is. Doubt is a mind that is wrestling with God. Unbelief is a one that has given up on God.

Finally, what happens with Zechariah and Mary and us is that we all (hopefully) accept the word God has for us. Notice it is not resignation. “OK, if you insist.” No, it is a peaceful and proactive giving in and up to God that at once says I trust you, God, and I put it all in your hands.