Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him. (Luke 1:64–66; NKJV)

Have you ever felt distant from God? Maybe you stumbled into sin, doubted His call, or fell victim to evils in the world. Regardless of our circumstances and how we feel about how close God is, Zacharias reminds us that when God calls us His own, then He remains with us.

Remember that when God brought news to Zacharias that he and Elizabeth would become parents, they were advanced in years and had no children. Zacharias’ doubt is understandable. While God had done miracles in the lives of the saints of old, like Sarah (Gen 17:17), Rachel (Gen 30:22–23), and Hannah (1 Sam 1:19–20), there is a big difference between believing that God does miracles and trusting Him for a miracle in your own life.

Miracles are inherently difficult to believe. They are supernatural suspensions of the normal, natural processes of life. Modernity has done an excellent job of convincing most of us to think and live as if miracles are the stuff of legend and myth. Further, because miracles are rare and supernatural, they are by definition rare and unrepeatable. The fact that they suspend natural processes and we can’t control them offends our modern sensibilities.

But in the case of Zacharias, God gave him direct communication about it beforehand. Still, Zacharias doubted God’s promise. This seems to be the reason why God chastised Zacharias and cause him to become mute. Interestingly, even this chastisement was an answer to Zacharias’ doubt—it was an immediate miracle that was sure to stir faith and awe in Zacharias’ heart.

Undoubtedly, Zacharias’ muteness significantly altered every aspect of his life. His inability to speak would have greatly hindered communication in his marriage, community, and priestly service. In a time when oral communication was the norm and there was no modern technology to take other input and vocalize it, we can only imagine how challenging—and discouraging—life might have become for him.

We have no way of knowing what Zacharias might have been thinking or feeling about his circumstances. But we can see that there is no hint in Scripture that Zacharias expected his muteness to be restored after John’s birth. Did Zacharias hold out hope that God would restore his voice? Or did he think his muteness would become his new normal? It is easy to see how discouragement could take hold, as we see it so often does in such life-changing situations.

Regardless, the price of Zacharias’ unbelief was costly. The Levitical law prohibited from priestly service anyone “who has any defect,” (Lev 21:17). Several maladies are listed and muteness is not among them, so perhaps this was not a formal disqualification. Did his muteness prohibit him from continuing his priestly duties? It is unclear, but even if it did not, his inability to speak surely hindered his ability to carry out such service.

There are times when life takes unexpected turns. Sometimes these changes come through our own choices and other times we are victims of moral evils, natural events, or supernatural phenomena. When such events dramatically change the course of our lives, it can be a significant source of discouragement, which can lead to doubt. Doubting God’s will. Doubting God’s call. Doubting God’s goodness and presence in our lives.

In Christianity, depression has been a taboo subject. Thankfully, in recent years this has begun to change. When discouragement and doubt continue unchecked, depression can take hold, in the lives of believers and nonbelievers alike. For believers, it becomes easy to give in to sinful vices to numb the grief and pain, making it even harder to resist the voice of the Enemy who seeks to lure us into sin and away from Christ (Jas 1:14; 1 Pet 5:8).

Depression drains our joy and passion for living. We feel far from God because in our hearts we’ve drawn near to the world and turned away from Him. We become weighed down with questions, like Where is God? Why does He feel so far away? Does He even love me? Is He even there?

Christian, take heart—God with you (John 16:8–9). He promises to never leave you (Matt 28:20). He promises that nothing and no one can separate you from His love (Rom 8:38–39). When you entrusted your life and eternity to Christ, you received membership in His heavenly flock. He has laid His life down for you and no one can steal you from Him (John 10:15, 28–29).

Our encouragement today is to remind ourselves that God loves us, He is with us, and He invites us pour our hearts out to Him. When we experience life-changing circumstances, and when our hearts become burdened with discouragement and doubt, remember Zacharias. Despite his initial unbelief, “the hand of the Lord was with him,” (Luke 1:66). Christian—the hand of the Lord is with you, too.