During the reign of Herod king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and he had a wife named Elizabeth, who was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous in the sight of God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both very old.
(Luke 1:5-7)
Some people believe that living a life that is pleasing to God will somehow immunize them from problems – as if serving Jesus is some sort of spiritual vaccination. Unfortunately this is not the case. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both faithfully serving God, but still were unable to conceive. They would have had to deal daily with the stigma of having no children (which in their day was considered a curse). And now they were “very old.”
Thankfully God gave them a miracle child. (You can read more about that in Luke 1:8-17 and the rest of the chapter) We know him as John the Baptist.
God still does miracles and answers prayers today. You may feel abandoned by God — forgotten and alone. But God sees you, and the totality of your situation. Don’t give up hope. Keep trusting. Keep serving. Who knows… your miracle may be right around the corner. Zechariah and Elizabeth kept their hearts in the game and were eventually able to hold the answer to their prayers in their hands.
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After resigning from his Associate Pastor position in a mega-church in the north Dallas, TX area, Jon and Robin moved their family to Germany in October 2001. There they focused on empowering European church leaders through mentoring and coaching, as well as teaching in seminars, conferences, roundtables and Bible Schools. They also planted a number of churches and youth groups throughout central Europe.
After planting and pastoring a “church for those who don’t do church” in Freiburg, Germany, they returned to the Texas Hill Country in August 2014 to help U.S. churches prepare for the coming Post-Christian cultural shift. Jon’s book, The Coming Post-Christian Tsunami is available in print and Kindle formats from Amazon.com.
Although they reside in the Texas Hill Country, they continue to equip Christian leaders throughout Europe and North America.
Jon and Robin have been married since 1993 and have three children: Ryan, Ashton and Emma.