Have you ever done everything right and still felt completely forgotten by God? You showed up. You prayed. You stayed faithful. And yet the answer never came. If that’s where you are right now, you’re in good company. Some of the most faithful people in the Bible walked through exactly that, and their story holds real hope for anyone stuck in the waiting.
This post walks through a message on Luke 1:5-17 from Alex Kremer at Atlantic Gospel Chapel, and what it teaches us about trusting God in seasons of waiting. Let’s dig in.
The World Was Dark Before the Light Came
Here’s a pattern you’ll see all over Scripture: right before God does something huge, things usually look their worst. He saved the world through Noah in the middle of total wickedness. He rescued Israel through Moses after 400 years of slavery in Egypt. He raised up King David right after the chaos of the Judges, a period so brutal it’s honestly hard to read.
So when we get to the birth of John the Baptist and the coming of Jesus, the pattern holds. The biggest revelation of God in history came after the deepest darkness.
God’s Silence for 400 Years
When Luke opens his Gospel, it had been roughly 400 years since God spoke to His people through a prophet. Think about that. Before this, God had been in regular communication with Israel. Every century or so, a prophet would show up with new revelation, a fresh act of deliverance, a word from the Lord. Then, after Malachi, silence.
That doesn’t mean nothing was happening. God was still in control, still shaping history into the exact circumstances for the birth of Christ. But for 400 long years, there was no prophetic word. Understanding God’s silence of 400 years is key to understanding why Luke starts his story the way he does.
Meet Zechariah and Elizabeth
Luke sets the scene “in the days of Herod, king of Judea.” Herod the Great was a powerful builder but a genuinely wicked man, known for murdering anyone he saw as a threat, including his own family members. That’s the dark backdrop.
And then, against that backdrop of a tyrant king, Luke introduces us to a regular priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Not royalty. Not famous. Just two faithful people.
The Meaning of the Name Zechariah
Here’s a detail that’s easy to miss. The name Zechariah means “the Lord has remembered.” Sit with that for a second. After 400 years of silence, when God finally breaks back into history, He does it through a man whose name literally means the Lord remembers.
It echoes Exodus 2:24, where God “remembered His covenant” with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and moved to rescue Israel from Egypt. The same thing is happening again. God is remembering His promises, and salvation is on the way.
Righteous, But Still Hurting
Luke tells us Zechariah and Elizabeth were “both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments.” These were good people with the best spiritual pedigree you could ask for. Both came from priestly lines. They loved God, loved their neighbor, and believed His promises.
And yet there was one painful exception. They had no children, and they were now too old to hope for any. In that culture, being childless was a heavy reproach. So here’s the tension: two people who did everything right, still carrying a deep, unanswered ache.
Why Does God Allow Hardship for the Righteous?
This is one of the hardest questions in the Christian life, and it’s worth being honest about. Why does God allow hardship for the righteous? Why do good people face barrenness, illness, loss, and disappointment?
Notice what Luke is careful to show us: Zechariah and Elizabeth’s suffering was not because they did something wrong. They weren’t being punished. Sometimes bad things in our lives are a direct result of our own sin, sure. But often, godly people face hard things for reasons we can’t see in the moment.
The danger here is becoming like Job’s friends, who assumed his suffering had to mean he’d sinned. That’s bad theology. The truth is more uncomfortable but more hopeful: sometimes God allows the hardship because He’s preparing to do something great through it.
You’re in Good Company
Zechariah and Elizabeth were about to join a long line of faithful people who waited:
Abraham and Sarah
Barren in their old age, yet God gave them a son and built a nation through him.
Manoah and His Wife
His barren wife conceived Samson, who would deliver Israel, after an angel of the Lord visited.
Hannah
She went to the altar year after year, praying through her grief, and God answered with the birth of Samuel.
If you’re waiting on God right now, you’re walking a path that some of the most faithful people in Scripture walked before you.
What to Do When God Is Silent
So let’s get practical. What do you actually do when the heavens feel like brass and your prayers seem to go nowhere? Here’s what Zechariah and Elizabeth model for us when it comes to staying faithful when prayers go unanswered.
Don’t Let Bitterness Take Root
It would have been so easy for this couple to grow bitter, to decide God had forgotten them. Plenty of people walk away from faith for exactly that reason: “I did the right thing and life still fell apart, so I’m done.” But Zechariah and Elizabeth refused to let disappointment harden into resentment. Faithfulness in disappointment is a choice you make daily.
Keep Walking Uprightly Anyway
They didn’t treat obedience as a transaction, like “I’ll start serving God once He gives me what I want.” They kept walking faithfully before God without the answer in hand. That’s a huge lesson. Trusting God in seasons of waiting means you keep showing up even when you don’t understand.
Cling to God’s Promises
Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God. That’s the anchor. When you’re tempted to slip, like the psalmist in Psalm 73 who nearly stumbled, you go back to what God has promised. Biblical hope in dark times isn’t wishful thinking. It’s rooted in the character of a God who keeps His word.
The Birth of John the Baptist and the Hope We Hold
As Zechariah burned incense in the temple, a picture of the people’s prayers rising to God, an angel appeared with the news he’d waited a lifetime to hear. His prayer had been heard. The birth of John the Baptist was about to set the stage for the coming Messiah.
Post Tenebras Lux: The After Darkness Light Meaning
There’s a great motto from the Protestant Reformation: post tenebras lux, which means “after darkness, light.” It captured how the gospel broke fresh into a world that had grown spiritually dark. And that’s exactly the after darkness light meaning we see here in Luke. The 400 years of silence weren’t the end of the story. They were the setup for the light.
Here’s the takeaway for your life: darkness in the world, or darkness in your own life, does not mean things are hopeless. God’s pattern is to prepare His greatest light in our darkest seasons. The God who remembered His promises to Israel, and who broke His silence through John the Baptist, has not forgotten you either.
Join Us at Atlantic Gospel Chapel
If this message stirred something in you, we’d love to have you worship with us. As a church in Atlantic, Iowa. Atlantic Gospel Chapel is committed to clear, Christ-centered Bible teaching in Atlantic, Iowa for our community and the surrounding Cass County, Iowa area. Whatever season you’re in, you’re welcome here. Come and hear how the God who remembers is still writing light into the darkness.
