Perfect Timing…

Does waiting drive you crazy?

Children are counting down days til Christmas. Adults count days til the next big game, movie sequel, retirement – or you fill in the blank with your ‘can’t wait’ list.

At the birth of Jesus the world had been spinning for about 4,000 years and things were looking pretty dismal. But at just the right time, announced to the most unlikely of people, Jesus was born. “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born” (Luke 2:6 NIV)

When you and I have a big announcement we don’t go to strangers, just anybody hanging around. God chose to go to the low on the social ladder: shepherds. But He also chose to use one of His beautiful creations, an angel.

The shepherds hurried off to see what this was all about and then they spread the news. The news was so good all who heard it were astounded. “When they had seen Him, they spread the word…and all who heard it were amazed” (Luke 2:17a-18a NIV)

Amazed? We’re amazed by things of no lasting value: lottery payoffs, celebrities, vacations. But at just the right time in the most obscure of places, in the dark of night, the King of kings came to change lives forever. And yet, throughout history, so few have been amazed.

Jesus coming to be flesh among us may not have seemed like perfect timing to the prophets who had foretold His coming and didn’t live to see it. It certainly wasn’t perfect timing to those in authority in His day – a threat to their power.

But as Lisa Apello reminds us “While we see the wait, God sees the perfect timing.” Just when we’re about to give up, give in, or take things into our own hands is often His perfect timing.

The more we try to control, the more we try to fix, the longer it seems to take. Praying someone you love will get better? return home? get a promotion? get salvation? This is hard for you and me: the wait. But He’s perfecting us in the process and ensuring that the outcome (whether it’s what we had in mind or not) is absolutely the best for those who love Him. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6 NIV) Perfect!