“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant— the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live. And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
Luke 1:68-79
Dear God, there is so much joy here. Zechariah had been silenced for presumably a year or so and now he could speak. It was time to worship. It was time to praise. Sure, he got some things wrong in this prophecy. He didn’t know what kind of lives John and Jesus would lead. He didn’t know how they would end. I’m sure he didn’t see John’s beheading or Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. But that stuff doesn’t really matter. He was taking the information he had at the time and worshipping you with it.
There is so much for which I have to praise you. There is also so much I do not know. I can praise you for providing for the work we do with our patients. I can praise you for loving us well. I can praise you for thus far answering our prayers for a coworker’s husband who is in the ICU with COVID-19. I can praise you for donations that are supporting our work. I can praise you for the chance to share your love with others. I can praise you that my wife and I are safe, that our children are safe, and my parents are safe. I can praise you that my father-in-law’s passing was quick and merciful. I can also beseech you on behalf of my niece and her fiancé who have COVID. I can ask that you keep those who were with them over the last two weeks, including my parents, safe. Please, Father, have mercy on them. On all of them and the ones I know of who are struggling in a myriad of ways.
Father, I don’t have to know where all of this is going or how it all works out. I don’t need to prophecy or know the future. I just need you in this moment. I trust you to provide from there–and if not financial or physical provision, peace and comfort. Thank you for being a God who grants all of these things and who even cares to listen to this prayer today.
In Jesus’s name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 