Time

A guest blog from Shawn Blythe, looking at a reading from last week!

As we enter a new year, it is not uncommon to think about time. We think about the things we did during the last twelve-month period, and the things we will do differently in the next twelve months. However, I must admit that my thinking about time goes well beyond what some might consider healthy. I am obsessed with time. What time is it? When does it start? When do we leave? How long until dinner? How long will it take to get there? The list goes on.
The Bible is also full of time references – and the vast majority of them revolve around waiting. There is the well known 40 years of wandering in the desert (Numbers 14), Joshua’s seven-day march around Jericho (Joshua 6), Esther’s three days of prayer before approaching King Xerxes (Esther 4), and Mary & Joseph’s excruciating three-day search for their son in Jerusalem (Luke 2).
But the Bible reading passage for the new year includes an eight-day period that I hadn’t given much thought about before now. In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel delivers the news to Zechariah and he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child in their old age. Zachariah understandably has some doubts and is subsequently struck speechless “until this day happens”.
If I am Zechariah, I am now counting down the days until my wife gives birth. A closer look at Gabriel’s message does include two things: birth of the child and naming him John. But clearly my doubt was regarding the birth, not the naming. I am firmly convinced that I will regain my speech on the day my wife gives birth. I dutifully mark the date in the equivalent of a 1 BC calendar and look forward to that day. But when the day comes and my son is born, I am still unable to speak. I can only imagine the crushing feeling of despair and confusion.
Luke 1:59 tells us that it is a full eight days later that John is circumcised and subsequently officially named – and only then does Zechariah regain his ability to speak. I can imagine this time passing very slowly for Zechariah. Did he misunderstand? Has he done something else to irritate either God or Gabriel? How long is this going to continue? Did God forget about him? Will he ever be able to speak again?
If I am Zechariah, I am spending so much time analyzing the mismatch between my understanding of when something is going to happen and reality, that I am missing the value of that time. I don’t enjoy the blessings of today because I am worrying about the timing of the blessings of tomorrow. I am likely holding my newborn son in my arms worrying about whether I will ever be able to speak again.
There is a lesson here for me. I certainly understand that God’s ways are not my ways (Isaiah 55) and my understanding of God’s timing has been proven repeatedly to be woefully inaccurate. But the eight days between John’s birth and Zechariah’s regained speech is a great example (and reminder) to me.
I need to spend more time focusing on the miracle before me rather than worrying about the timing of the miracle yet to come.