896) It is a human characteristic to think that when something goes wrong, it was because of something we did or didn’t do. That may be true occasionally, but if we follow this notion further, what we are alluding to is that we have more power and influence than we really do. For example, I might have a negative reaction from a friend to something I said when, in reality, that friend may likely be responding to something within themselves rather than to me.

In Luke 1:5-25, we read of a wife, Elizabeth, who had spent many years praying for children but God had not answered her prayers. If I were her, I would think I have done something wrong, bad, annoying, _____ (you fill in the blank). Is it possible that these may have been a reason Elizabeth had not become a mother? Perhaps, but we find in these verses that God had His own reason that had little to do with Elizabeth. He was preparing the way for John the Baptist to come into the world. God had a special plan for this man and he wanted to illustrate it with John’s miraculous birth.

It’s a humbling idea that maybe the things that happen in our lives are NOT because of who we are or what we do. It’s good to keep an open mind and not give ourselves the responsibility for something someone else says or does.