Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Zechariah gets a bit of a rough deal, not being able to speak. Gabriel places Zechariah under silence and tells him the reason why – lack of belief.

Maybe as you read through this passage, that part seems to confirm your ideas about God. Those who do the right thing, get good things from God. Those who do the wrong thing are made to suffer. But perhaps that’s a bit simplistic.

Maybe you’ve had a great 2025. If so, praise God. But if it’s been rough, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re being punished for something you did wrong. God’s mode of operation is not so simple. Because God is not so simple.

Perhaps, like Elizabeth says, God has ‘shown his favour’ to you instead; even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.

Yours reframing the perspective,

Alison