Day 72 Bible Reading

Leviticus 26: 14-26, Leviticus 27, Luke 1: 1-25, Psalm 37: 32-40

Luke 1: 19-20 (ESV)

“And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

I like verses 19 and 20 from Luke 1. The angel Gabriel punished Zechariah for not believing his words. We don’t have angels punishing us for our non-beliefs, but I know sometimes I felt that I was being punished God for lack of beliefs. When I pray for something and Holy Spirit tells me it will come, I sometimes have doubts. When I have doubts, I don’t get the thing I want until the very last minute. At other times when I don’t have doubts, the thing I prayed for comes immediately. So is it a form of punishment from God when I have doubts and the thing I want doesn’t come until I have given up all hope?  I never thought of it in that way, but it might be a form of punishment from God for lack of belief in his promise. What do you think?