But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” LUKE 1:13 

When unbelievers are asked what keeps them from trusting God most, they usually say, “God didn’t answer my prayer.” Unanswered prayers can be disappointing and leave us feeling hopeless. But then I remember Zechariah and Elizabeth—two of the most faithful people to love the Lord. Scripture says, “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old” (Luke 1:6–7). When it looked like parenthood might not be a part of their journey, it would have been so easy for Zechariah and Elizabeth to waver or walk away. Yet, they pressed on. They ached for a child. They prayed ceaselessly for one even when Elizabeth was well past childbearing years. And even though person after person near them likely had baby after baby, they continued to serve God and His people and trust that He loved and cared for them more than they could imagine.  

The life of Zechariah and Elizabeth always reminds me that God’s yes might come decades after I thought it was “the right time.” Can you imagine how they reacted when one day, “the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John’? God’s timing is better than ours. God’s plans are better than our own. If He says yes to us on a timeline of what we expect, that is incredible. If He says yes to us at an unexpected time, that is just as miraculous. If He never says yes to that request, we must trust that it is for our best. 

God, any rejection from You is a gift. Any redirection from You is a blessing. Help me release my timelines to You and open my hands to the plans You have for me every day. Amen. 

REFLECT: If you kept asking and God didn’t say yes, would you still call Him faithful? When was a time that God said yes that surprised you? Praise Him for the ways He’s answered prayers in your life. 

This is an excerpt from Living Open-Handed: Devotions for Surrendering Control and Finding Joy in the Unexpected by Shruthi Parker – a devotional now available on DaySpring.com. Shop all books, journals, and devotions from DaySpring here.