But What if God Does?Sýnishorn

What if it's something new? What if it has a new name?

He was a very old man to have children. He went to the temple again and again to offer his prayer, believing that God could somehow comfort him.

Until the day came. Zechariah had a vision, and an angel told him he would have a son. Zechariah doubted, and as a consequence could not speak any more until it was fulfilled. How many times do we ask for something and God promises to give us what we ask for, yet we still doubt? Well, it happened to Zechariah too. But now I want to focus on the day the child was born.

Everyone wanted to know the name of the child and everyone had a long list of what he could be called. The mother, however, said an unexpected name: John. It was something new, it had not been used in their family and everyone was amazed at the name he would now have. God often works like this.

He doesn't have to be guided by the list we make or what seems right to us. He just tells us: It's a new name, you've never heard it before, but that's what it's called. You come from many family backgrounds, traditions, and customs, but God comes and gets in there so that you can leave everything you know and start a new story, with a new name (Isaiah 56:5).

God gives you a new story and also a new name. God doesn't have to wait for someone to confirm if that name is pleasant or not. He just does it. John not only had a different name from all his relatives, he also dressed differently (he came from a priestly line and they had special vestments as priests, besides the fact that part of his life was to be in the temple).

He wore camel skin and lived in the desert. God changes the way He is going to work in your life, and the only things that don't change are His principles and His Word. Just as John loved God, so did Zechariah and Elizabeth, and just as John feared God so did his parents.

But God uses new places, new names, and new experiences because God is like that: He always does something new. What if you have a baby, like Zechariah, despite your age? What if I've already answered your prayer? What if it's something new and you haven't seen it before? What if it has a new name? It's not the name you were expecting, but believe me, God already knows that name (Isaiah 62:2).