The Music of Christmas, Day 6

 Metronome

Read Luke 1:5-7, 26-34
“For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end — it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” – the prophet Habakkuk

Have you ever found yourself anxiously waiting for an event or arrival? If what you anticipated was a welcomed occasion, it probably felt like time slowed or came to a complete stop. I remember when we were expecting our first child. Nine months had never felt so long. But even as we anxiously awaited our son, we understood the importance of waiting for all nine months. As much as we wanted to hold that little guy, we didn’t want him to arrive earlier than was safe. We waited with eager anticipation and hope.

 
Pregnancy is a good picture of hope … knowing that the time has not yet come but expecting that it will. The Apostle Paul described Jesus’ arrival the same way. He said, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman …” (Galatians 4:4). I don’t think Mary believed “the fullness of time” had come when the angel Gabriel announced her unexpected pregnancy. I’m guessing she viewed the entire circumstance as ill-timed and happening to the wrong girl. “It’s too early,” she probably thought. “I am not yet married, and still a virgin.” As young women sometimes do, Mary likely imagined, dreamed, and hoped for the day she would become a mother. It wasn’t that she didn’t want a baby. She simply didn’t want a baby so soon.

Meanwhile, in another town, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth was having exactly the opposite experience. She and her husband Zechariah tried for years to conceive. They prayed and waited, hoped and pined. But as days turned into years and years into decades, they gave up. Hope faded and finally died. Then an angel appeared to Zechariah and told him to break out the bassinette. A baby was coming — their long-awaited child. Elizabeth and Zechariah would become parents at last. “But we’re too old!” Zechariah protested, undoubtedly thinking God’s timing was off. 

From an earthly perspective, one baby came too soon and the other too late. A teenage pregnancy and a geriatric gestation. Hope seemed premature in one narrative and tragically delayed in the other. Though a child was the fulfillment of each family’s greatest hope, the timing was not what either imagined. Yet, according to God’s divine calendar, the time had come.

We live in a world of instant gratification and technological advancement. We can jump online at any hour, buy an item from virtually anywhere, and then have it delivered within hours or days. In fact, we’ve figured out voice-activated technology and we speak our will into existence. We are being conditioned to be increasingly impatient with anything and anyone who does not operate according to our schedule, including God.

Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, have you given up hope, believing time has run out? Perhaps hope has faded into despair. Do you trust God’s timing? “If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:3) 

 

Or maybe, like Mary, you have been confronted with the reality of a hope that seems premature. I once heard an old preacher say, “God is seldom early, but he is never late.” I understand what he meant, but the truth of the matter is that God is never early or late. His timing is right. Always. He who is outside of time and space –- who set our calendar and time itself into motion –- appoints the moment for the fulfillment of every promise.

 

 

God Who is Outside of Time,

Like Mary and Elizabeth, I am filled with expectations and assumptions about Your timing. Help me recognize Your sovereignty over time and calendars. Help me to let go of expectations even as I hold onto Your promises. May all my hope be in You and may I live with the confidence that You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Amen.

The Music of Christmas is available in print or digital formats.