When God interrupts what feels ordinary, He often reveals a far greater plan unfolding behind the scenes. Zechariah and Elizabeth’s story reminds us that what seems routine or delayed is actually being orchestrated by a God who is working in every detail.
Most of us don’t mind interruptions as long as they are small and predictable. A delayed meeting, a minor detour, or a change of plans we can absorb is acceptable. But when an interruption reaches deeper, leading to pain, disappointment, waiting, or longing, we tend to assume something has gone wrong. Luke opens his Gospel by reminding us that when God interrupts the ordinary, He is often preparing to do something extraordinary.
Luke 1:5-25
In Luke 1, Zechariah and Elizabeth lived faithful, steady lives in a difficult time. They served God diligently, even though their prayers for a child had gone unanswered for years. They were righteous yet burdened, devoted yet disappointed. Their story reminds us that unanswered prayers and unfulfilled desires don’t signal God’s absence. Sometimes they signal the stage God is quietly setting.
When the angel appeared to Zechariah in the temple, the message was almost unbelievable: God had heard them. After years of silence, their longing would finally be met, not just with a child, but with a son who would prepare the way for the Messiah Himself. What looked like a delay was actually a design. What felt like silence was a setup for God’s surprising goodness.
The details mattered.
The timing mattered.
Their story was woven into something far bigger than they could see.
The same is true for us.
We often want God to work on our timeline, in our way, at our speed. But God has this remarkable habit of orchestrating the ordinary pieces of life into a purpose we couldn’t imagine. Nothing in your life is random. No prayer is unnoticed. No delay is wasted. God is not absent from the details; He is at work in every single one of them.
Maybe you’re in a season where you feel overlooked or behind. Maybe something you longed for hasn’t happened yet. Perhaps your plans have been interrupted in ways that leave you confused or discouraged. Luke’s account invites you to see interruptions not as detours but as invitations. God may be preparing something better, something necessary, something you would never have scripted but desperately need.
Zechariah walked into the temple expecting business as usual. He walked out unable to speak but carrying a promise that would change the world. When God steps into the storyline, the details shift, the pace changes, and the outcome exceeds anything we imagined.
You don’t have to understand every detail to trust the One who does.
- Where in your life do you need to believe that God is not distant but intentional?
- What longing have you assumed is ignored rather than being prepared?
- What interruption might actually be God’s intervention?
Nothing in your life happens by accident.
God is in the details.
Every single one.
