Answer Lesson 066

Key Verse

With God all things are possible
— Matthew 19:26

It Took a Miracle

Luke 1:5-25,57-66

There was no solution except through the power of God.

For the past few months, she had known something was wrong with her. It had started with a heavy, tired feeling all the time. Then pain. The day finally came when she had to report in to a doctor for a regular physical checkup. The results of his tests brought the words that would seem to shatter her life.

“You have cancer and there is no hope,” the doctor told the young girl. Imagine what a shock this was to a girl who thought she had a long life ahead of her! There were things she wanted to do, places she wanted to go. Now she was facing the fact that she was not going to be able to do any of them. She was dying!

She loved God and wanted to serve Him. He was the only One to go to for help. As she knelt by her bed, she cried out to the Lord from the bottom of her heart, “Please help me, dear God! I don’t want to die. If You will heal my body I promise to serve You the rest of my life!” Yet she knew in her heart that if it were God’s will for her to die she would accept His will.

As far as the doctors were concerned, there was nothing more that could be done for her, but she knew the Bible stated that “. . . with God nothing shall be impossible.” She knew this meant that God could do anything.

The devil tried to bring doubts. As the pain grew worse, he would bring the thought to her: You are going to die. But the Lord would speak to her heart, saying, “Have faith. Keep holding on! Keep believing.” That is just what she did. She kept holding on, fighting against the fear that would grip her heart. One day, her confidence in God was rewarded.

He healed her completely! No trace of cancer was found in her body. She was going to live! This really happened!

God has been performing miracles—doing things man thought impossible—from the beginning of time. Our lesson is another example of God’s ability to do the impossible. Zacharias was a priest in the Temple of the Lord. No doubt while he was doing his duties, his mind often went back to when he was a young man with a heart that ached for a child—his very own son or daughter to hold in his arms. But now he was an old man and his loving wife, Elisabeth, an old woman. What a good woman the Lord had given him. She had stood faithfully by his side and truly loved the Lord.

One day a miracle happened. As Zacharias performed his duties, suddenly . . . “There appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.” Zacharias was afraid! Who was he? What did he want? he wondered. The angel told Zacharias not to be afraid; the Lord had heard his prayer, and his wife Elisabeth was going to have a son. He also said this son would turn many of the Children of Israel to the Lord their God.

“How do I know this is going to happen?” questioned Zacharias. “A son at our age?” The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. You shall not be able to speak until the day your son is born because you didn’t believe my words.”

Imagine what it would be like not to be able to talk. Well, this is exactly what happened to Zacharias. Soon the miracle became known. Elisabeth was expecting a child! How could this be? God had performed a miracle! That which was impossible with man, God made possible.

When the time came for the baby to be born, Elisabeth had a son. The people asked what they would name the baby. Because Zacharias still could not speak, he wrote, “His name is John.” The Bible tells us that after doing this, Zacharias was immediately able to speak, and he praised God.

Wasn’t that a wonderful miracle! Zacharias and Elisabeth had wanted a child for so long but thought it was not possible for them to have one. But God had heard their prayers and gave them a child. This son, John, was the man we know as John the Baptist.

God wants us to believe Him completely. We must not forget that He has all power and that nothing is impossible when we trust in Him.