5 D E CE MB E R
THE “HOPE FOR A BABY” TREE Loving Father, my ever-present help, You know the doubts and questions that plague my heart. You know every prayer and need I have committed into Your hands. Help me experience the peace and reassurance of Your faithfulness today. Amen
L UKE 1 : 6 7- 80 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.’ 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. 67
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tied pink and blue bows on the tree’s branches and christened it our “Hope for a Baby” Christmas tree. My husband and I had been waiting to adopt a baby for more than four years. Surely by Christmas! Every morning I stopped at the tree and prayed, reminding myself of God’s faithfulness. On 21 December we received the news: no baby by Christmas. Devastated, I paused by the tree that had become a symbol of LUKE 1:68 God’s provision. Was God still faithful? Was I doing something wrong? At times, God’s apparent withholding results from His loving discipline. At other times God lovingly allows delays to strengthen our trust. In His perfect wisdom, God withheld a child from Elizabeth and Zecharaiah for many years. Yet when Gabriel appeared to Zecharaiah and announced the time had come for their child to “ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17), Zecharaiah’s response was disbelief (v. 20). Yet his doubt could not undo God’s faithfulness to them or us. He provided in His perfect timing. And when Zecharaiah later received his speech again, the first thing he did was praise God for His faithfulness “because he has come to his people and redeemed them” (v. 68). In His time, God answered our prayer as well. I left the tree standing well beyond Christmas and continued my morning prayer. At last, on the following Easter weekend, we received our baby girl. God is always faithful, though not necessarily on our timeline nor always according to our desires. o ELISA MORGAN
PRAISE BE TO THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, BECAUSE HE HAS COME TO HIS PEOPLE AND REDEEMED THEM.
Read today’s passage again. What are you waiting on God for? What doubts stop you seeing God’s faithfulness? Share your burdens and questions with God again today. Dear God, help me trust You today even when I can’t see what You are doing. I always have reason to praise You for Your goodness and love.
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