I'm not sure why, and you'd think I would have figured this out by now, I'm always amazed how God is always at work aligning the things that we do. In essence I always find myself speechless! Yesterday I attended an awesome seminar by Joe Boyd and his team from Rebel Pilgrim, you can also check out Rebel Storytellers. The summary of this meeting was to give us tools to make us better story tellers. To look through the eyes of story's we are telling/reading with empathetic eyes. We were also challenged to look at people we come into contact with on a day to day basis with empathetic eyes. Simply by asking, "WHY?". Why do they act that way, why do they say those things? There is always a deeper meaning!

I took this practice into my Advent devotional this morning, if you are not doing it I implore you to check out Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blasé. He takes the traditional Christmas stories of scriptures and adds to them, makes them come alive, invites you into the story, drills down in order to understand the main character of the story. Today's reading was the message of the angel to Zachariah. Blasé picks up the story from the time that Zachariah leaves the temple and heads to tell Elizabeth. Here is a brief excerpt: "His pace slowed as a grin lined his face. “Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John … many will delight in his birth.” He stopped in the middle of the path and looked heavenward. He mouthed words only the Mighty One could hear: “Who am I that you are mindful of me? Why should you touch her womb in these old days with new life? What kind of man-child is this to be born of her, this one named ‘John’?”"As I read, reread the story and placed myself in it one name kept popping out, "Abijah." Why in the world, in the telling of this story, would God mention this obscure name? Abijah was the great-grandson of David, the grandson of Solomon. He reigned as Israel's king for 3 years, he was known for defeating Jeroboams army of 800,000 when his was only half the size. By winning this war he stabilized the Kingdom of Israel. Alhough Abijah had “leaned upon Jehovah” (2 Chr. 13:13-20), nevertheless, he went on walking in all the sins of his father Rehoboam.^[7][5] Abijah allowed the high places, the sacred pillars, and even the male temple prostitutes to continue in the land. “His heart did not prove to be complete with Jehovah his God” (1 Kin. 14:22-24; 15:3).^[7]


Abijah a man that continued to walk in His sins, an unbelieving old man named Zachariah is exactly who God used to tell His story and to bring in to the world the forerunner of the Savior of the World. Yet Zachariah says, “Who am I that you would be mindful of me?” May I ask the same question of us today… Who are “WE” that God would be mindful of us? What great story are we a part of? Once you find out, who knows maybe will leave you speechless as well!