Gift of Heaven: A Christmas Devotional SeriesSample

DAY 4: God With Us in the Waiting – Zechariah’s Silence

Zechariah was a priest, faithful, righteous, and prayerful. When Gabriel appears with the long-awaited answer to his prayers (news of a son), Zechariah doesn’t rejoice. He doubts.

“How can I be sure of this?” he asks. After years of heartbreak and silent disappointment, faith had become hard to hold onto. His question wasn’t born out of curiosity like Mary’s; it was shaped by despair. Hope, once vibrant, had been carefully packed away, like an old vase no longer welcome on the mantle of his heart. When you face disappointment over and over again, it begins to feel foolish to keep holding on to the desire.

So God gives him silence.

At first glance, it seems like punishment. But perhaps it was mercy. In that quiet space, unable to speak or even hear, Zechariah could no longer perform or explain. He simply had to watch God work.

And God did.

Zechariah is shaped in the silence. More than that, his hope in God’s character is restored in the waiting. He was healed in the waiting and in the silence. His identity - as a man, as a father, and as a priest- was all tended to in silence. God was with him.

In the stillness, the promise grew. Hope was quietly restored. And when the moment came to name his son “John,” Zechariah’s obedience unlocked his voice. His first words weren’t apologies or explanations, they were praise.

Zechariah’s waiting teaches us that even our silence can be sacred. God is still moving, even when we have no words. Sometimes, the only way for our hearts to be healed is to stop speaking, stop striving, and just witness the faithfulness of God unfold.

Reflection Questions

1. Are you in a season where you feel like God is silent... or you are?
2. Have you “packed away” a desire or promise that once brought you hope? What would it look like to surrender it today?
3. What is God doing in front of your eyes, even in this quiet, uncertain season?