Waiting: Day 17

Tuesday December 16, 2025

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

Luke 1:57, English Standard Version

Gabriel’s prophecy comes true! Zechariah and Elizabeth’s quiet home is filled first with the cries of a newborn, soon with the babble of a growing infant, then with the words and laughter of a toddler. Their prayers have been answered.

It’s so easy to just bounce right over this news of the fulfillment of God’s promise. Of course, the baby will be born. We’re certain of it, so certain that we can easily miss the joy these two old codgers must have felt. But they, living in that moment, had to be pinching themselves to make sure they weren’t trapped in a dreamworld.

“Can you believe this?” Elizabeth must have asked her beloved husband as she rocked the baby to sleep.

“What a miracle!” Zechariah surely exclaimed when the tiny boy opened his eyes and peered up at his father.

“Thank you, Lord,” Elizabeth certainly whispered in the middle of the night as she nursed her son.

“Yes, Lord, thank you,” Zechariah, watching the mother and child, must have echoed.

They waited. Patiently. Expectantly. Faithfully. And now, at long last, their prayers have been fulfilled.

Like every parent before them, and every parent since, they were holding a gift from heaven. A miracle. Nothing less.