Are You On The Right Side?

Are You On the Right Side?  Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 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. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,  for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.  And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Luke 1:11-18

In Exodus 30:1, Aaron burns fragrance on the altar of incense. The fragrant smoke from the altar of incense was symbolic of the prayers of God's people. We know that Zechariah was of the priestly descent from the line of Aaron. Zechariah was chosen by lot to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense, which was the custom for the priesthood. While he is on duty and serving as a priest before God, the angel appeared to him standing at the right of the altar of incense.   This is the place where Zechariah was offering prayers up to God. It could be that for years he had offered the prayer for he and his wife Elizabeth to have a child only to be disappointed time and again.   Have you ever waited and hoped for God to move in a situation for such a long time until you assumed the answer was no?  And so the angel shows up right in the place where the prayer was offered and tells him "Do not be afraid, Zechariah: your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son..."  Why was Zechariah silenced for his unbelief?  Here he is a man that is so close to God in priestly position but yet so far away in his heart.  In Revelation 5:8, when the One worthy to open the scroll appears before them the twenty four elder's fell down  before the Lamb with harp in hand and "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints". Zechariah is standing in the place where he's sent the prayer up and instead of bowing down in awe and wonder  he wants to know, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."  Then the angel answered, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to tell you the good news. Then Zechariah was silenced for his unbelief. He had plenty of time to reflect upon the prayers he had offered up about having a child. The evidence of his offense made him speechless. Have you ever believed God for something for so long until you stopped believing? Delay does not mean denial. Sometimes God will delay something you deeply desire because He wants to give you something very special. Sometimes a delay is all about a destiny. God had chosen to give Zechariah not just any son but a great man of God. Even from his  birth, John would be filled with the Holy Spirit. He would be a revivalist, bringing the people of Israel back to the Lord their God.   The angel showed up on the right side. Stay on the right side with God. What He says will happen. In fact, from His vantage point it is a reality. You and I are waiting for tomorrow but God's already seen it because He knows the end from the beginnning.  God spoke the universe into existence. His words are powerful enough to accomplish what they set out to do.  Zechariah was unable to tell the good news because at first he was unable to hear the good news. I hope you and I will believe in God more than we believe in ourselves. I pray that we will listen and agree with the right side.  ©2013 Veronica Garrett