God Speaks in the Ordinary

The world feels like it’s shaking on every front right now. Wars are flaring, political tensions are boiling over, and economies are wobbling. Technology is advancing so fast that it feels like we’re sprinting toward the unknown. If we only relied on the news, we’d be convinced chaos was running the show. 

But in the opening of the Gospel of Luke, we meet a man who reminds us that God’s plan doesn’t stall just because the headlines are messy. After 400 years of prophetic silence, Luke takes us into the quiet chambers of the Temple in Jerusalem, where a priest named Zechariah is faithfully serving. 

Zechariah wasn’t famous, nor a political player, and wasn’t trending on anyone’s social media feeds. He was showing up, day after day, doing what God had called him to do. This is when God speaks through the angel Gabriel with an announcement that will shake history: his wife Elizabeth will bear a son. 

While Rome flexed its muscles, religious leaders fought for influence, and ordinary people struggled to make ends meet, God was setting the next chapter of His redemption story in motion. And He did it, not in a palace or a war council, but in the heart of an aging priest whose name most of the world didn’t even know. 

That’s the lesson for us in these turbulent days. Faithfulness in the ordinary is the soil where God often plants His greatest works. Zechariah wasn’t angling for a spotlight or chasing influence. He was obeying God in the role given to him. And it was there that God chose to move. 

We tend to think God requires big stages in order to make a move. But most of the time, God’s work unfolds in hidden obedience — in the prayer you pray when no one’s watching, in the quiet decision to love your neighbor, in the consistent attendance for worship and service even when life feels overwhelming. 

Zechariah lived in politically and spiritually tense times. Rome occupied Israel, and corruption had infiltrated religious leadership. People longed for God to act — and many wondered if He would. Yet God was not idle. He was aligning every detail so that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4:4). 

Here’s the truth we must hold onto: God does not need calm conditions to accomplish His purposes. Wars and rumors of wars do not throw off His timeline. Economic instability doesn’t make Him wring His hands. He works in and through the chaos, moving history toward the return of Jesus Christ. 

Just as Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah signaled that God’s silence was over, the events we see today signal that God is bringing history closer to the day when the trumpet will sound and Christ will reign. 

I can’t ignore the prophetic undercurrent here. The Bible tells us that in the last days, the world will experience wars, moral collapse, spiritual deception, and global upheaval. We’re watching the stage being set in real time. But just like Zechariah, we’re not called to panic — we’re called to faithfulness. Jesus told us, “When you see these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). That’s not fear language; it is hope language.

Zechariah’s story reminds us that no matter what’s happening in the world, the God of Heaven is still writing the story. And if you belong to Him, your name is written in it too. 

We may be living in turbulent days, but we are also living in the days God chose for us to serve Him. Be the priest, the servant, the witness who keeps showing up — because one day, perhaps sooner than we think, the announcement will come again, and the King will return.