God Keeps His Promises

One of my recent spiritual practices has been really diving deeper into the Scriptures, specifically the Gospels. In order to be an effective disciple of Christ, I must know who he is. Sometimes this occurs in the form of lectio divina (literally “sacred reading”; a form of Scripture meditation involving contemplation and prayer), other times in the form of Ignatian meditation (Scripture meditation in which the reader places him or herself in the story to better understand it). Either way, today I was reflecting on a passage from the Gospel of Luke. It is a canticle, or a song of praise, sang by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, after John is born. I’ll explain it more in a bit, but the gist of what came to me, something that we all need to be reminded of from time to time, is that God always keeps his promises.

A quick refresher on the story. When Zechariah finds out that his wife, Elizabeth, who is past child-bearing years, is going to have a child, he doesn’t believe it, and is thus struck mute until the birth of his son, John. Upon naming his son John, as he was commanded, his mouth is opened and he immediately sings the praises of God. Often called the Benedictus, the canticle says:

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people. He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David his servant, even as he promised through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our fathers and to be mindful of his holy covenantand of the oath he swore to Abraham our father, and to grant us that, rescued from the hand of enemies, without fear we might worship him in holiness and righteousness before him all our days” (Luke 1:68-75).

I really focused on the beginning half. God has promised the redemption of his people, and he is following through by sending him a son, a “horn of salvation”, as he promised from of old through the prophets. It is truly an amazing sight. Many times, it is easy to be Zechariah and to think, “Well, God isn’t going to answer my prayers and he isn’t going to follow through”. But he does! This is just one example.

The Testing of Abraham

I am currently taking this wonderful Old Testament class, and we were recently discussing the story where God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son. So Abraham leads Isaac up the mountain and ties him up for the sacrifice. Right as Abraham is about to sacrifice his only son, his inheritance, the sign of God’s covenant that Abraham would be a father of many nations, God stops him. The point my professor was trying to make is that Abraham knew God wouldn’t let him sacrifice his only son. God made a covenant and he promised Abraham he would be a father of nations. Isaac was God’s reassurance of that. Abraham knew that God is faithful to his word and that he would not and could not break the covenant. So Abraham and Isaac find a goat caught in some bramble and sacrifice that instead.

Abraham or Zechariah?

In my own life, there have been times where I have been both Abraham and Zechariah. Sometimes trusting God is easy because, like Abraham, I know that God will take care of me because he always has and always will. Sometimes, though, I am like Zechariah, where what I think is God’s plan is very undesirable and leads to a lot of suffering. I’m sure you, dear reader, have experienced both as well. However, what is important in both of these stories is that both men praise God in the end. We must remember to praise God when we have complete trust in him and to praise him when he gets us through times of confusion and obscurity. Praise God in all things, for it is the least we can do for a God who loves us infinitely.