Infinitum Advent Suprised by God, Week 4Shembull

Julie Andrews (who played Maria in The Sound of Music) developed a condition that required surgery on her vocal cords later in life. The process for this surgery was 10 days of silence in preparation, then the surgery, followed by 10 days of silence afterwards to recover. Julie Andrews… world-famous singer… totally silenced for 20 days. As you try to wrap your mind around that, you realize that part of our identities as humans is found in our voices. So when Zechariah (John the Baptist’s dad) was silenced (as in completely lost his voice) in the process of the news that he was going to become a father, he was launched not only into an incredibly inconvenient way to be a priest, he was likely directly ushered into an identity crisis of sorts. In addition to a struggle through self-forgiveness, his disbelief in God’s provision landed him in silence. Can you relate? Perhaps you’ve never had an angel appear to you or take your ability to form words, but you can likely relate to wondering if God knows what He’s doing or perhaps questioning whether or not you heard Him correctly. Silencing Zechariah may be seen as a punishment for his disbelief, but ultimately, the time of silence birthed a heart of praise in Zechariah. We don’t know how great of a struggle Zechariah went through during those months of silence. Still, we do know that when Zecharaiah surrendered in agreement with Elizabeth and the angel that their son should be named John, the silence broke (and the first thing Zecharaiah did was praise God). If you had surveyed Zechariah before the angel appeared to him, “God wants to move powerfully in your life. How would you like to see Him do it?” Zecharaiah most likely would not have listed months of silence as a viable (or desired) means for God to do it. And yet…God was at work. This is not unlike our survey results compared to how God works in our lives. And yet…God is at work. What do you need to surrender to learn how God is working right now? What do you suppose Zecharaiah was afraid of as he wrestled through God’s surprising work in his life? What are you afraid of? Try it on for size. Try being silent for 10 minutes (maybe with others in your space?) … Was it hard? Were you surprised at how hard it was or the way it was difficult? What makes silence so difficult? In what ways might you learn to be silent and be connected to surrender?