The way of faith

God's interventions both in history and in my life operate so differently from faith as to almost be an antithesis to faith. When God sent Gabriel to Zachariah the high priest, there was no question of Zacharias' faith in God:

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife [was] of the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless (Luke 1:5-6).

Zechariah must have already demonstrated his faithfulness to become high priest. In the faithful discharge of his duty, an angel

. . .
, and in some ways to her husband, also. That her husband had been selected to be high priest was therefore evidence that God overrules the decisions and judgments of people. Luke only mentions this one child of a miracle, but that one child was later described as "among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist" (Luke 7:28). God's answer to their prayer also was consistent with His characteristics: generous and sovereign: For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37). What the angel meant was that none of these earthly problems like making a woman conceive, with or without the help of youth or a man, was impossible. God cannot act against His nature (Hebrews 6:18), so whatever He does will reveal what kind of person He is. As it turned out, the 16-year-old girl had more faith than the old high priest: And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her (Luke 1:38). The story shifts from Zacharias to Mary and Elisabeth, from an old couple's child to the nation's child. God never forgets His promises. Answering one prayer in fact often leads to other answers as well. All three, along with the nation, were awaiti
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
God Israel, Abraham David, Fear Zacharias, God Saviour, God Paul, Corinth Mary, God God, Elisabeth Yahweh, Gabriel Zachariah, Messiah Paul, faith god, thou shalt, jesus christ, unto angel, god sent, prayer child, mary zacharias, hath rejoiced god, mary remained, john 146, rejoiced god, sake gospel promised, god faith manifested, rejoiced god saviour, mother sister died,
Approximate Word count = 3266
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

More Essays on The way of faith