A Christmas God Encounter

This is the story of two people in the Bible who each had a powerful encounter with God; however, they responded in two very different ways.

We all want to have an encounter; and when He comes, it is our privilege to respond with our yes. I wish I could say that it is easier after we receive a promise from God and that everything just falls into place. That may not be the case. When we truly have an encounter, by His grace we can carry whatever He gives us to full term no matter what it costs—but there is a cost.

In Luke 1:5, we read about a priest named Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth. The Bible says they were living blamelessly, following the commands of God. What would that be like to follow God perfectly? They were living blamelessly, but…. Some of us have many “buts,” when we just want the promise. But Zachariah and Elizabeth had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and they were already older. Then, Zachariah was chosen by random to go into the temple and burn incense. The others were worshipping outside.

Not everyone was allowed to go into the holy place. It is a privilege that we are free to gather and worship God. The blood of Jesus made a way for us to enter in, but some people do not value this privilege. Don’t stay outside when He paid a great price to be face to face with you. I love leading people to Jesus and seeing orphans coming home to the Father’s house, but my greatest joy is being face to face with the One who is worthy. All of my motivation comes from that place of worship.

Zachariah was in this amazing place of encounter when the angel appeared to him. Can you imagine? It is funny how the angels often say, “Don’t be afraid.” Yeah right. If there was a big angel in your room, you would be afraid.

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord…” (Luke 1:13-17).

What is your prayer? I want you to think about it. You may just want enough money to pay your rent. That’s okay, you need to have somewhere to sleep. But when you are deeply connected to Jesus, you are going to start to pray very bold prayers. My prayer was: “I want a nation! I want to see millions of people come to You, Jesus. I want the unreached people groups to come to You, Jesus!” My prayers started to grow. I was no longer just praying for my family or my basic needs, but prayers like: “God, I want a nation. I want to see people worshipping You all over the planet, no matter what it takes.”

When I had a seven-day encounter with God, I felt like I was being electrocuted and screamed out, “I’m going to die!” I sensed God responding, “Good, I want you dead.” He doesn’t leave you dead, but He lets you feel the dying. Allow Him to work on you during those times of encounter. You need to totally and completely die, and there is something fearful about that.

God is a good, loving Father, but you have to die to your own ambition and the things that hinder you from living a life fully yielded to Him. Then He can resurrect you. During my encounter, I didn’t know if I would ever walk or talk again, but I kept seeing waves of the love of Jesus. All I could do was worship. Even though I couldn’t speak, I worshipped in silence with tears running down my face.

Zachariah’s prayer was for fruitfulness. He wanted a child, but he gave up on his dream. The angel of the Lord came even though he no longer believed. He spoke about John’s incredible calling. What a promise! God wants to put His promises in you. Every human being who is a lover of Jesus is meant to live face to face with the Lamb. If you live face to face, you are going to be fruitful! Sometimes there will be pruning; but if you keep abiding, the fruit will come. Even the cutting away and discipline of the Lord is so you will bear much fruit.

You already may have had incredible promises from God. You may be seeing them come to pass. Or you may be walking a life of silence, muted and deaf from your unbelief. We want an encounter. We want God to speak to us. We want God to send His holy fire and burn up all our flesh and cause us to be fully filled, but what do we do when the promise is prophesied? What do we do when God speaks to us?

Zachariah had a beautiful promise answered by the Lord Himself through the messenger Gabriel. You would think he would be joyful, hopeful, and full of faith because God heard his prayer. Instead, Zachariah questions the angel how this is possible since he is old. He followed the commands of God, he was picked at random, he was on his face worshipping, and an angel showed up! How could he not believe? But in that moment, he doubted, thinking about his physical circumstances.

The angel said, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time” (Luke 1:19-20). Our promises will still be fulfilled even if we don’t believe because God knows what He is doing, and He promised what He promised. Zachariah would have a son even though he did not believe, but because of his unbelief, he was silenced.

There is another way of responding to God, the way of faith. A way that says yes even when challenges come against us. A way that says yes, no matter what it costs. Any mother who has given birth understands that it is costly, and it can be very painful. It can be very difficult. At times our promises take so long that we struggle to keep believing, but we have to keep crying yes!

When we read the story of Mary, many of us think of the Christmas nativity plays at church. In Mozambique, we just grab a baby “Jesus” out of the baby house. We have plenty of children to act out the story. We tie goats to a rope bed. I love it. Especially because in our province, there was no word in the Makua dialect for Christmas because they were all people of another faith, now there are thousands of churches and houses of prayer. I love Christmas when it is holy and pure and focused on the One who is worthy, Jesus. But real angels are not like cute children wearing white sheets.

The same angel that was sent to Zachariah came to Mary and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). Do you want favor? We say we want the favor of God, but what does favor look like? Sometimes favor looks like something you are not expecting. Sometimes people will be shaking their finger concerning your favor. What is a teenage Jewish virgin going to do with this kind of favor? And what is her response going to be? Is her response going to be like Zachariah trying to be quiet and cover up her favor? There is only so long you can do that.

Mary is there in the presence of God. I always imagined her frying fish or washing her clothes in a clay bucket. She had the same initial response—she was greatly troubled. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid.” Then he goes on to tell her what the favor looks like:

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end (Luke 1:31-33).

Wow, that is favor. Nobody on this planet will ever again have the privilege that Mary had. There is only one Jesus, fully God and fully man, born to a virgin. But all of us can carry the promises of God that He put inside us.

Are you ready? What will your response be? One response is feeling like it is just too much, and you don’t really believe, and you are silenced. God will still do what He said He would do. He is sovereign. You may think that because of God’s sovereignty it doesn’t matter what you do. Will you participate? Will you carry glory? Will you allow God to use your little life? Will you give birth to what God put inside you?

Zachariah returned home and Elizabeth became pregnant. She was probably scared to believe it, but as that child began to grow within her womb, her joy started to rise. Perhaps you are thirty years pregnant; but if you do not abort, if you do not miscarry, your promise will come to pass in Jesus’ name.

There are promises I received twenty-three years ago that I am still waiting for. Mercifully I have also seen God fulfill a whole lot on the way. Fourteen years ago, He said to build a university. We have buildings ready for three majors, we just need the final documents from the government. These precious ones who live in mud huts, in the villages, will become the leaders of the nation for the glory of God. I just believe.

Whatever God puts in you, believe. Will there be a massive yes cry within you concerning the promises of God? Or will you succumb to a muted life like Zachariah when God encounters you?

When Mary had her heavenly encounter, she too wondered, how will this be? Stating the fact that she was a virgin (Luke 1:34). The angel said that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. We need to position our hearts for the Holy Spirit to come upon us. We are all in different seasons: you may feel dry or full of the oil of the Spirit; you may be longing for more, to be overshadowed by God; maybe you are in a place of fear where you have been silenced. Whatever space you are in, you can ask Him to come—then position yourself for the overshadowing of the Lord as you worship and adore Him.

Mary responded, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Will you respond like Zachariah or like Mary to the promises of God?

Prayer and Reflection

As the Lord’s yielded servants, let’s pray Mary’s anointed prayer: “I am Your servant, Lord; may it be to me according to Your word.”

Think of the promises of God in your life. Think of the times God has overshadowed you. Cry out like Mary. The angel tells Mary that nothing will be impossible with God. None of the things He promises you are impossible, no matter what your circumstances look like. Nothing is impossible with God. Choose to believe. Then when it gets hard, choose to keep believing. Let your life be worship, and let your only cry be “Yes!”