I Stand in the Presence of God

Luke 1:11-19 ESV (portions)
“And there appeared to him (Zachariah) an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son… he will be great before the Lord…and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb… and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” …And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God…”

Zachariah, a priest, was in shock of seeing Gabriel, an Angel from God. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was more receptive to Gabriel than the priest of God was, but that is a story for another time.

Gabriel announced the birth of Zachariah’s son to him, but he doubted it. Knowing the scriptures as well as I hope he did, this should not have come to him as such a shock, because these things must happen before the birth of the Messiah.

Zacheriah was blessed enough to receive word from Gabriel, the mightiest of Angels. He was blessed to stand in the presence of such a mighty Angel, and he received the promise of a child. This was something he wanted his entire adult life, and this would be no ordinary child. Yet he doubted the words. For that, Zachariah was unable to speak for nine months.

When the Angel said to Zachariah, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God”, that should have rocked Zachariah’s world, I get chills just reading that. We know that, spiritually speaking, we are in the presence of God always, but one day, we will see Him face to face, what a day that will be.

Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for Your presence, thank You for the sacrifice of love that You sent Your Son, the product of love to come to this earth. He was in Your presence but laid down the robes of glory and came in flesh to live among us. He came to show us You Father God. Then He redeem us back to You. What a Savior He is, what a Father of love You are, Amen!