December 30.
Doubt Or Directions

Luke 1:18

And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

After hearing of all the wonderful promises from the angel of the Lord, Zacharias said unto the angel, “Whereby shall know this?” This was a comment of unbelief Now here’s what Zacharias was doing. He was asking God to give him another sign. He was actually doubting what the angel had said to him. There is another person in the Bible who received almost the same statement, yet she didn’t doubt. Mary said in Luke 1:34 “How shall this be seeing I know not a man?”

There is a difference between what Zacharias and Mary said. Look at what resulted after their statements were made. God told Zacharias that he would be dumb, unable to speak. He condemned Zacharias right after he made the statement because Zacharias was doubting what God had said. However, God answered Mary positively. The angel answered, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you and the power of the highest shall overshadow you.” Now God gives an explanation to Mary, but he condemns Zacharias. It is because Mary didn’t doubt, she was just asking for directions.

There is thin margin between doubt and faith or between a doubter and a person asking for directions. Sometimes we act like we are asking for directions but we are in fact doubting God at the same time. When you doubt God, you are actually calling God a liar. 1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. When you fail to believe God, you make God a liar. And God doesn’t take it lightly when you call him a liar.