This special week marks the celebration of the birth of John the Baptist. The names we are given is something we did not choose yet, somehow, we seem to embody its meaning and happily respond to someone calling out to us.
Sometimes, our parents also don’t choose our names. You know how people plan for the baby’s name long before conception and stick to it until that wonderful day they meet the baby and, suddenly, another name seems more appropriate? I think those are the times that God speaks to the parents through the baby’s “spirit” as to what name the child will be called.
The birth of John was proof that God had been gracious to His people by putting into motion the plan to bring the Savior, the Messiah, into the world.
John’s birth, in so many ways, is so much like Jesus’. Both events evoked feelings of wonder and awe. Both made a big impression throughout the entire region. And what began as an ordinary day in the life of the people over nine months had now been turned by God into a miraculous event that became known all over.
To all the childless couples who have yearned to conceive a child just like Elizabeth, I hope you do not ever feel that God has forgotten or no longer cares about you. And in case you are experiencing hopelessness, always remember that there is hope regarding your situation.
If it is God’s will, then we shall have it in God’s time. Even when it seems he has forgotten, He remembers. The many seemingly hopeless situations we have are reminders that God is faithful to carry out His oath that He made to all generations of His people all throughout history that He will send a Savior who would bring hope to all.
May it always remind us that God delights in extending His grace to us.
My dear brothers and sisters, whatever we are called to do, whatever situation of despair we are in, know and believe that the hand of the Lord is with us. Let us thank God for his powerful presence in our lives and in our quiet time of prayer, to ask Him to always strengthen our faith.