May 4

Zacharias had expressed doubt of the angel's words. He was not to speak again until they were fulfilled. "Behold," said the angel, "thou shalt be dumb, . . . until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." It was the duty of the priest in this service to pray for the pardon of public and national sins, and for the coming of the Messiah; but when Zacharias attempted to do this, he could not utter a word.

     Coming forth to bless the people, "he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless." They had waited long, and had begun to fear, lest he had been cut down by the judgment of God. But as he came forth from the holy place, his face was shining with the glory of God, "and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple." Zacharias communicated to them what he had seen and heard; and "as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house."

          Desire of Ages, page 100 from the chapter, 'The voice in the wilderness'

     Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, said: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." I was reading up on this idea and thought, “I can agree with that.”

     Zacharias has been traumatized by the vision and is left for months with signs to convey his every whim and wish. How do you ask your wife to go and see Rabbi ben Adam without the tongue to utter the words? You would guess that the experience would toughen him up.

     I was told of a cruel experiment to some young children. They were deprived of cuddles. They weren’t killed, they should have grown stronger, according to Nietzsche’s idea. Sadly the children did not thrive.

     I read the following in Psychology Today, “And this is true for humans as well. Mayhem and chaos don't toughen you up, and they don't prepare you well to deal with the terror of this world. Tender love and care toughen you up, because they nurture and strengthen your capacity to learn and adapt, including learning how to fight, and adapting to later hardship.”

     If this is true, and I fancy it is, Zacharias grew the stronger because he was surrounded by a nurturing environment.

     We might recognise church members struggling with heavy loads. Our friends might find that life has become just too difficult. Do we relax and reckon that difficult circumstances that don’t kill us will only strengthen us?

     No, we take the advice of the psychologist and make sure that people are made stronger by troubles when they are well supported and nurtured by those who surround them with a loving environment.

     Zacharias must indeed have been well nurtured and well strengthened, but we will read of that another day.

     Bryn has chosen our song for today. That generally means ‘Country’ but this time we head to the hills for some bluegrass. This time we hear a completely new singer, Rhonda Vincent, singing, ‘I heard my Saviour calling me’. Please click on the picture to listen