It takes no time to flip from the last page of Malachi to the first page of Matthew. But in that half-second page flip there are 400 years separating those two books in the Bible. 400 years of silence. Imagine that. For perspective, think from just after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock (history buffs know that was in 1620) until now… nothing from the Lord. Nothing. No oracles. No prophets. No direction. Nothing.

Today, we have the Holy Spirit. Empowering and enabling us to hear from God on a daily, regular basis. God almighty, in the person of Jesus Christ indwells in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. That wasn’t happening. Then it was silence. 400 years of silence.

Finally, the silence broke when the message came from Gabriel the angel to Zechariah. His “well along in years” wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a child; they were to name him John; and he would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17). And the rest is history…

After 400 years of silence, the first prophetic utterance came to Zechariah. It’s interesting what Gabriel said and what was not said in this first-after-400-years’ encounter. The Lord didn’t lay out the whole salvation plan (that would come in bits and pieces later), instead God gave Zechariah just what was needed for that moment. John would be a joy and delight. He would turn many back to the Lord. That’s all great, but nothing about Jesus. Nothing about Jesus’ death on a cross. John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth, but nothing about that possibility that we too could be filled with the Holy Spirit. Your son will be great. He’s not to drink wine. He will go with the power and spirit of Elijah. All Pretty fabulous news items, still not the whole story. The Best News, Jesus, was still coming.

God doesn’t always lay out the entire plan in our lives either. God might not tell you what’s happening in six years or six months or even six days, He gives us what we need for today. Often this is how God operates. It’s the manna from heaven for the children of Israel. It was provided for daily. Not a six-month supply. Daily. See also the Lord’s prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Not tomorrow’s bread. Today’s. 

God calls us to be faithful today. Daily. Each day faithful. We are not to worry about tomorrow. Trust Him for today. Trust Him for tomorrow too. God is working. Breathe. Relax. Rest. Wait. Know that God almighty has given you exactly what you need for today!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25-27