Luke 1:59-60 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

Zechariah and Elizabeth were under a lot of peer pressure to name their son for his father. After all, given the circumstances, they couldn’t really hope for yet another child. However, they stood firm in what God had told them, and God rewarded them. In the West today we are so used to democracy that we apply it in inappropriate places at times, and church is a prime example of that. God is to be in control, whatever the “majority opinion” might be. The problem then becomes church leaders who don’t listen to God but instead insist on their own way. Church history is littered with the wreckage from such people. The problem then becomes one of sufficient dedication and humility to really hear God, and then the determination to obey Him. God uses all sorts of methods to speak to us and guide us, so that further complicates things. The starting point, however, is faith that God has a good plan and He is going to guide us in it.

We are in a crisis of this very issue right now. We have been moving along toward what we have seen as God’s plan for us to build a senior-care facility next to the church, and now as we get to the point of paying for the land, the major donor has pulled out, saying they won’t contribute. On top of that, a member of the church staff has announced they will resign if we don’t give up the plan. Those two things seem awfully like satanic opposition to me, but that leaves us with needing to know where God wants us to take things from here. The fear in me is that I am operating in pride, and I haven’t really heard God. I cannot, must not, “go it alone,” even if I had the finances myself, but at the same time I am not to be swayed by public opinion. I cannot “birth” this project on my own, any more than Mary or Elizabeth could have had their children without God’s help. I need God’s clear guidance as to whom to talk with, and I need faith to hear God accurately, not just as I talk with others but especially as I pray. One thing that is very clear throughout the Christmas narrative is that God had a plan from the beginning, and He has one for us as well. I need to rest in that assurance and listen carefully as He reveals it to us, for His glory alone.

Father, this is a high-level test. I can’t pass it on my own, but You can get me through it. Thank You for the song that was running through my mind as I woke up this morning: “Jesus, You’re my firm foundation; I know I can rest secure. Jesus, You’re my firm foundation; I put my hope and my trust in You.” Help me walk in that indeed in the hours and days ahead, so that Your plans, for me and for this church, may be fulfilled in Your way on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!