【双语灵修】破碎的夢想BROKEN DREAMS
路加福音 1:5-7
当犹太王希律的时候，亚比雅班里有一个祭司，名叫撒迦利亚。他妻子是亚伦的后人，名叫伊利莎白。 他们二人在神面前都是义人，遵行主的一切诫命礼仪，没有可指摘的。 只是没有孩子，因为伊利莎白不生育，两个人又年纪老迈了。
12月3日
破碎的夢想
「只是沒有孩子，因為伊利莎白不生育，兩個人又年紀老邁了。」 - 路加福音 1:7
聖誕故事始於破碎的夢想。伊利莎白和撒迦利亞曾經熱切祈求子嗣（參見《路加福音》1:13），但神並未以他們期望的方式應允。無子不僅是個人遺憾，在他們的文化中更是一種羞恥。如今夫婦二人垂垂老矣，大抵已放棄了得子的希望。
許多人同樣也帶著失望步入聖誕季節。家庭狀況和所期盼的相去甚遠，工作只是日復一日的勞役，環視週遭文化時，痛惜那些曾以為理所當然的價值觀與安全感的消逝。我們充滿困惑，甚至懷疑自己的禱告是否會蒙垂聽。
但正如撒迦利亞夫婦般恪守正道，並不表示夢想一定會實現。他們此時流露的渴望，正好反映出人類因罪墮落後，更深切渴慕與神建立關係。
更重要的是，漫長的等待絕非表示神未曾動工。神知曉撒迦利亞夫婦的境遇，洞悉人類的處境，也明察我們每個人的困頓與失意。在聖誕節，我們得以看見神如何動工修復祂的子民 - 包括你和我！
禱告
父啊，你知道我們的盼望與夢想。請幫助我們堅信，即便在漫長失望與等待中，你仍在動工。阿們。
Luke 1:5-7
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3
BROKEN DREAMS
They were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. —Luke 1:7
The Christmas story begins with broken dreams. Elizabeth and Zechariah had prayed fervently to have a child (see Luke 1:13), but God had not answered in the way they had hoped or expected. And being childless was not only personally disappointing; it also carried a social stigma in their culture. Now that they had grown old, Zechariah and Elizabeth had likely given up on their dream of ever having a child.
Many of us come to Christmas with disappointments too. Our family life has turned out differently than we had hoped. We hold a job that provides little more than drudgery from day to day. We look around at our culture and lament the loss of important values and safety that we thought we could take for granted. We are confused and wonder if our prayers are even heard.
But trying to do everything right, as Zechariah and Elizabeth did, does not mean our dreams will be fulfilled. The longing we sense here reflects a deeper longing for a relationship with God that was lost because of human sin.
What’s more, if we have waited a long time, that doesn’t mean God is not at work. God knew Zechariah and Elizabeth’s situation. He knows the human condition. God knows each of our situations and our disappointments as well. At Christmas we can see how God works to restore his people—and that includes me and you!
Father, you know our hopes and dreams. Help us to trust that you are at work even in our long seasons of disappointment and waiting. Amen.