Wonder Of Advent #13

A Long Wait

Read: Galatians 4:4-7

When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman.

Galatians 4:4

GOD WAS IN NO HURRY. All of heaven must have anticipated the Incarnation and the remarkable unfolding of the redemption plan, but God would not rush it. For centuries, millennia, long eras of frustration and futility, the world carried on in the pain of its brokenness, assuming the disorder was normal but longing for something more. Paul wrote that all creation groaned in increasing intensity, as if it were in the pains of childbirth, for a revelation of who God really is. But few people would have identified those pains for what they were. The human heart grows accustomed to the dull ache of a long wait.

In retrospect, God is a master of timing. In the moment, he seems to take an excruciatingly long time to work out his plan or to fulfill a promise. We wait and wait, and assure ourselves he is never late, though sometimes he is, at least by the measure of our time lines. But looking back after the fact, his timing usually makes sense. He knows how to build up to a moment and deliver when conditions are ripe. He is a masterful orchestrator of the divine plan.

So God sent Jesus when the right time came—or as some translations say, in “the fullness of time,” capturing the image of a pregnant anticipation—after centuries of prophetic hints and in the midst of one nation’s political and religious angst. Some people doubted a deliverer would ever come; others searched the Scriptures and speculated about God’s plans for his people. But even in a season of expectation, hardly anyone recognized him as “the one” until he surprised them with his wisdom, power, and love.

The crossroads of Jewish, Greek, and Roman cultures made the timing of Jesus’ birth just right. In any other era, his ministry and the subsequent Christian movement would not have had the same influence. But God, in his impeccable wisdom, establishes seasons—not only in an ancient empire, but in your life too. Why hasn’t he done what you asked? Why does he seem to be slow about his promises? Why haven’t his plans for you unfolded as you hoped? Because the timing is not yet right. When it is—in the fullness of the moment—he will move. And it will be very much worth the wait.

Prayer

Lord, I marvel at your timing and trust you to govern the seasons of my life. Your saving work—in Jesus’ birth and in my ongoing relationship with you—is orchestrated for my good. Open my eyes to it daily, and grant me patience. Amen.

REFLECTION

What happens in your relationship with God when you are waiting on his plans to unfold? Do you draw closer or pull away? How might those times help you grow?

Further reading: Hebrews 10:35-38

For lo! the days are hastening on

by prophets seen of old,

when with the ever-circling years

shall come the time foretold.

“IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR,” EDMUND SEARS