Advent Daily Devotionals: He Will Do the Impossible: 19th December

HE WILL DO THE IMPOSSIBLE

18^th Day of Advent: 19^th December 2018

Readings of the Day:

First Reading, Judges 13:2-7, 24-25

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 71:3-4, 5-6, 16-17

Gospel, Luke 1:5-25

First Reading, Judges 13:2-7, 24-25

There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren; she had borne no children. The Angel of Yahweh appeared to this woman and said to her, 'You are barren and have had no child, but you are going to conceive and give birth to a son. From now on, take great care. Drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For you are going to conceive and give birth to a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb; and he will start rescuing Israel from the power of the Philistines.' 

The woman then went and told her husband, 'A man of God has just come to me, who looked like the Angel of God, so majestic was he. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, "You are going to conceive and will give birth to a son. From now on, drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb to his dying day." 'The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him; and the spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 71:3-4, 5-6, 16-17

Be a sheltering rock for me, always accessible; you have determined to save me, for you are my rock, my fortress.

My God, rescue me from the clutches of the wicked, from the grasp of the rogue and the ruthless.

For you are my hope, Lord, my trust, Yahweh, since boyhood.

On you I have relied since my birth, since my mother's womb you have been my portion, the constant theme of my praise.

I will come in the power of Yahweh to tell of your justice, yours alone.

God, you have taught me from boyhood, and I am still proclaiming your marvels.

Gospel, Luke 1:5-25

In the days of King Herod of Judaea there lived a priest called Zechariah who belonged to the Abijah section of the priesthood, and he had a wife, Elizabeth by name, who was a descendant of Aaron. Both were upright in the sight of God and impeccably carried out all the commandments and observances of the Lord. But they were childless: Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years.

Now it happened that it was the turn of his section to serve, and he was exercising his priestly office before God when it fell to him by lot, as the priestly custom was, to enter the Lord's sanctuary and burn incense there.

And at the hour of incense all the people were outside, praying. Then there appeared to him the angel of the Lord, standing on the right of the altar of incense. The sight disturbed Zechariah and he was overcome with fear.

But the angel said to him, 'Zechariah, do not be afraid, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you shall name him John.

He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink; even from his mother's womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the Israelites to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to reconcile fathers to their children and the disobedient to the good sense of the upright, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.'

Zechariah said to the angel, 'How can I know this? I am an old man and my wife is getting on in years.' The angel replied, 'I am Gabriel, who stand in God's presence, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.

Look! Since you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time, you will be silenced and have no power of speech until this has happened.'

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he stayed in the sanctuary so long. When he came out he could not speak to them, and they realised that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. But he could only make signs to them and remained dumb. When his time of service came to an end he returned home. Some time later his wife Elizabeth conceived and for five months she kept to herself, saying, 'The Lord has done this for me, now that it has pleased him to take away the humiliation I suffered in public.'

Writer’s reflection

I love how both stories in today’s First Reading and the Gospel testify that our God is the one who will do the impossible. Both the story of the birth of Samson and John the Baptist are examples of miraculous divine intervention in human lives. There was no hope for both of these couples; they had not had children for years, which in those times was seen as a punishment from God. However, God makes promises that He will not break, and as he did for both couples, He similarly invites us all to be a part of His plans for our lives. He wants us to cooperate with Him, to work for His glory to be revealed. But despite this, our human condition is that we very often fail to trust Him…

Manoah and Zecheriah are given big promises from God; they are told they will finally have sons and their sons will be very special. Samson is to be a nazirite, an Old Testament term for someone like a monk, someone dedicated to God. John the Baptist will “bring back many of the Israelites to the Lord their God”, he will go before God as a prophet. These are huge promises God is making!

If we read a bit more about Manoah’s story we see how he could not believe in what his wife was saying and had to go and ask The Angel himself. Similarly, Zecheriah struggled to believe and as a sign he lost his speech.

When I think about my own moments of despair and loss of all hope, I feel pretty ashamed that I do not trust God enough in those difficult moments. I am so concerned about how bad or scared I feel that I do not see a point in actually letting God lead the way and fulfil the promises He is offering me. It usually takes me some time, and then at the verge of a breakdown I would say a quiet yes or a desperate cry for help to God. Obviously, then everything changes; even though my situation as such may not. Because God needs my “yes” to be able to change my perspective from looking at my feet to looking into His face. And this changes everything because it allows me to once again trust that He knows the plan, He’s kept His promise, and it’s going to be ok. I want to repeat after the psalmist “you have determined to save me, for you are my rock, my fortress.”

I sometimes ask myself whether we are creating a fake version of God in our minds. Do we really believe He is all powerful and all knowing? Are we not making God less than He is?

We should have an expectant faith, we should be willing to trust in God’s promises, we should listen to Him more. His promises are BIG, He wants to give us fullness of live, fullness of joy and fullness of love if we are close to Him; He promises everlasting life in His presence. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But our God is the God of the impossible, He can even change our stubborn hearts, and, if we only ask, He will give us the faith to believe.

Prayer reflection

Lord, you are the God who does the impossible, help us to trust in your plan even in the most hopeless situations.

This Advent season, please send us Your Spirit; so that we may be more and more aware of your loving presence at every stage of our lives.

Thank you for creating all of us so beautifully and caring for us throughout our whole lives.

Give us the grace of faith so that we can believe in all Your amazing and glorious promises and reach the goals of our life in Your presence.

Amen!

Writer Bio: Agata Kowalska

Hi everyone, I’m Agata and I’m 25. I live in Southampton at the moment where I started my first year of being a junior doctor.

I love to talk about God and with Him all the time and it brings me lots of joy to see people growing in faith and becoming who they were created to be in His image. I love hot chocolate (without sugar!) and being surrounded by nature so the proximity of the New Forest is very much appreciated.

My message to readers is: talk to Him, God knows you already and He will be delighted to tell you more about you and Him.