The Hope of Christmas: God Uses the Improbable

I love the Advent stories that are part of just about every devotional out there. I love beginning with the prophecies in Isaiah and then reading about Zachariah and Elizabeth and the ministry of John the Baptist as we work our way to the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of our Savior in the lowliest of circumstances. But this year, my mind has been latching on to the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth more than usual.

I think, in some ways, it’s because my son and I just did a Bible unit on Abraham and Sarah. And so I have, fresh in my mind, another couple who was too old to have a child, and yet that’s just what God allowed them to do. And their son, Isaac, like Zachariah and Elizabeth’s son, John, served as a flashing arrow pointing to Jesus. In Abraham and Isaac, we see a mirror of God’s own choice to sacrifice His Son. In John, we see another sacrifice as he paid the ultimate price for unashamedly speaking truth and pointing to Jesus.

But in both stories, we see God using the improbable – or even the impossible – and that gives me hope, because it means He can use me. And so, knowing that, when I look at my life and am tempted to consider it insignificant, I’m able to step back and pray that, no matter how small or improbable, that something I so or say will make an eternal difference in just one life. Because God can do that, easily. We just have to get out of the way.

What improbable thing has God used in your life? Every comment is an entry into the Grand Prize drawing, plus I’m giving away a copy of my new release Love Defined (and if you haven’t read the first 2 in the series, let me know if you win, I might just tuck them in as well.)