This past week my wife and I have ventured out to go Christmas shopping and the traffic has been bonkers. I don’t think I’ve seen this many people out since before COVID. So for the first time in years, I found myself waiting in traffic, trying to not block intersections and still trying to get where I needed to go before places closed. While I’m better at it than I used to be, I’ll admit that waiting is not one of my favorite pastimes.
I find it comforting, therefore, to know that God also waits. While he doesn’t have to deal with time the way that we do, the Christmas story is full of instances where God was waiting for the perfect timing. As we saw previously, God had a perfect plan, and a perfect plan requires perfect timing.
For over 400 years, it seemed that God was silent. He sent no prophet. He had no burning bush. The people longed to hear from God. But he wasn’t absent. He was waiting for the perfect time. Look at Isaiah 7:14
4 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
800 years before, God promised he would take care of His people. And he gave a promise that a virgin would conceive and bear a child. Not simply a young woman getting pregnant, because, frankly, there is nothing miraculous about that. But a virgin getting pregnant? Now that’s something!
God promised all the way back in Genesis 3:15 that a virgin-born man would destroy evil. And God reminded his people. This was going to be the sign.
Why was God waiting? I believe he was waiting for the perfect time. To fulfill all the prophecies of Jesus, God would have to cause some unique things to happen. Gallilee would have to have a large gentile population. The Messiah’s parents would have to be in Bethlehem, yet from Nazareth. God was waiting for the Roman Empire to create a system that would allow for the mass spread of the Gospel.
God was waiting for the very moment to show off His glory.
So maybe your life seems a little crazy right now. Maybe you feel like you are stuck in traffic, not going anywhere. Maybe God is waiting for the perfect moment to show off in your life. Maybe Jesus is going to show up in unexpected ways. He is worth waiting for.
Adam Will 