Wonder Replaces Doubt - Learning to Trust God in the Waiting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU1p27DvIOo

There is something that happens in our hearts when we stop trying to qualify God and start learning how to trust Him again. I was thinking about this as we were worshiping and singing, “Let Your glory fall.” We say those words easily. We sing them boldly. We pray them often. But if we are honest, sometimes there is a quiet voice underneath it all that starts trying to filter where God’s glory is allowed to go. We start thinking about who deserves it. Who agrees with us. Who has it right. Who doesn’t. And before we know it, wonder has been replaced with judgment, and faith has been replaced with control.

Scripture shows us that the glory of God does not come because people qualify for it. It comes because God is faithful. In the book of Daniel, wicked kings watched the power of God move through faithful servants, and they were transformed by it. Decrees were changed. Hearts were humbled. Truth was proclaimed. Not because the kings earned it, but because God revealed Himself. Wherever His glory is revealed, pride is crushed, fear is confronted, and truth rises to the surface. That is why we pray for His glory to fall everywhere. We are asking for transformation, not affirmation.

As we move into the Christmas story, Luke introduces us to people who were waiting on God. Zechariah. Mary. Simeon. Anna. Each of them had received promises. Each of them had heard from heaven. Each of them was living in expectation. But they responded in very different ways.

When the angel spoke to Zechariah in Luke 1:12–18, Scripture says he was terrified and overcome with fear. He had prayed. He had served. He had been faithful. But somewhere along the way, he had begun to assume that God was silent. That God was distant. That nothing was really going to change. So when God finally spoke, fear rose up instead of faith.

The angel told him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13). God had been listening the whole time. But Zechariah answered with doubt. “How can I know this?” He wanted proof. He wanted facts. He wanted certainty before he trusted. And because of that, he was silenced for a season.

Doubt doesn’t always look loud. Sometimes it looks quiet. Sometimes it looks like spiritual routine without spiritual expectation. Sometimes it looks like prayer without confidence. Sometimes it looks like worship without joy. Silence became the fruit of Zechariah’s unbelief.

Then we meet Mary.

In Luke 1:26–38, the same angel appears to her. The same God speaks. The same impossible promise is given. She is young. Unknown. Unqualified by every human standard. And yet she is greeted as “highly favored.”

She is troubled. She wonders. She thinks. She ponders. But she does not doubt.

She asks, “How can this be?” Not because she is unbelieving, but because she is standing in awe of a mystery. Her question is rooted in wonder, not resistance. She is saying, “I believe You. I just don’t understand yet.”

And the angel answers her. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Luke 1:35).

No rebuke. No discipline. No silence. Just reassurance.

Mary responds, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as You have said” (Luke 1:38).

That is wonder.

Wonder says, “I don’t need all the answers to trust You.”Wonder says, “I don’t have to control this.”Wonder says, “If You said it, I believe it.”

Wonder replaces doubt.

Later, Mary sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46–47). She had not seen the outcome yet. She had not felt the fulfillment yet. She had not experienced the promise yet. But she praised anyway. She made God big in her mind, her will, and her emotions before anything was visible.

She carried Jesus before she ever saw Him. That is the life of faith.

Zechariah wanted facts.Mary lived in wonder.

Zechariah was silenced by doubt.Mary was strengthened by trust.

But here is the grace of God: Zechariah’s story did not end in silence.

After nine months, his voice returned. And when it did, the first thing he did was praise. Luke 1:68 says, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and redeemed His people.” Jesus had not even been born yet, and Zechariah was already declaring redemption. Praise had replaced fear. Faith had replaced hesitation. Worship had replaced doubt.

Silence gave way to prophecy.

Sometimes God uses seasons of waiting to heal the way we think about Him. Sometimes He lets us sit long enough with our questions that we finally learn how to trust again. Zechariah came out of that season changed. His voice was restored. His confidence was renewed. His worship was awakened.

And then there is this powerful truth: Mary did not qualify herself to carry Jesus. Peace and righteousness qualified her. She represents the priesthood of Melchizedek — righteousness and peace before God — not performance and striving. God chose a teenage girl to carry His presence to show the world that His dwelling place is built on grace, not merit.

We carry Christ now the same way.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

We are His tabernacle.We are His dwelling place.We are His temple.

And we do not earn that. We receive it.

Wonder keeps our hearts open to that truth.

When we lose wonder, we start qualifying ourselves.When we lose wonder, we start comparing.When we lose wonder, we start performing.When we lose wonder, prayer becomes heavy.Worship becomes restrained.Faith becomes cautious.

But when wonder is alive, praise flows.Prayer is hopeful.Trust is natural.Expectation rises.

Praise becomes the beginning of prayer.

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4).

We behold Him before we ask Him.We acknowledge Him before we petition Him.We worship Him before we request anything.

That is intimacy.

Prayer is not talking at God.Prayer is turning toward Him.

Our whole life becomes a prayer lived.

Paul writes, “We are His workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10). The word means poem. Song. Masterpiece. God is singing something into you. And when you praise Him, you are singing it back. When you worship, you are agreeing with what He has spoken. When you trust Him, you are participating in His song.

That is wonder.

And wonder always leads to worship.

This Christmas season, I want us to live like Mary. I want us to stop demanding explanations and start trusting promises. I want us to stop qualifying ourselves and start receiving grace. I want us to let wonder replace doubt.

Some of you have been waiting on God for a long time. Some of you have prayed prayers that feel unanswered. Some of you have carried disappointment quietly. Some of you have learned how to survive spiritually without expecting much.

The Lord is inviting you back into wonder.

Not naïve faith.Not shallow belief.Not emotional hype.

But deep, settled, confident trust.

“Blessed is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her” (Luke 1:45).

That blessing is for you.

When we behold Him, fear falls away.When we behold Him, doubt loses its grip.When we behold Him, joy returns.When we behold Him, peace settles in.

Wonder replaces doubt. And when it does, our lives become living prayers, carrying Jesus into every place we go.

Looking for a Spirit-led, presence-centered church in the Quad Cities? At Riverside Church in Davenport, Iowa, we exist to help people encounter Jesus, be transformed in His presence, and live out their God-given calling.

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At Riverside Church, we believe every person is created to encounter God, be transformed, and reveal Jesus to the world. These teachings are part of that journey.

Learn more about our vision at onechurchqc.org/vision, browse additional messages at onechurchqc.org/teachings, or visit onechurchqc.org for service times and next steps.

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