Tag: fullness of time

No More Waiting

And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Galatians 4:3-5, NLT

 

We’re almost there. You have been so patient. I’m really quite impressed that you’ve stayed with me to the end.

I chuckled when I read this morning’s text. Who among us can’t relate to the fullness of this season? Our schedules are full. Our houses are full. Our bellies are over-full. About the only thing no longer full is our wallet or checking account. (Insert sad face here.)

But the fullness or right on timeness that Paul is writing to the Galatians about has nothing to do with this and everything to do with God’s perception of time.

We look at Christmas and I imagine our thoughts resonate with Joseph’s:

If we were in charge, we would have picked a different time, a different way…and we would have missed it…and messed it up.

God’s ways don’t make sense. But that’s probably because we don’t think like he does.

He knows best: when and how.

PRAYER: God, you who created time, who are over time, yet in and all the way through it…be born in us today. Amen.

Advent 2013: In the Fullness of Time


My life used to be much fuller. I worked two full-time jobs. I had two teenage daughters. I was a wife. I tried to keep house. For a while we also added foster children to that mix.

Life was busy. Full of things. Broad, but not deep. My motto might have been, “so much to do, so little time.” That is if I had stopped long enough to consider a motto.

Life has swiftly moved on. My daughters are now mothers–both over thirty. The movement has been a journey and a process. In the process, I have slowed down. And as a result, life is richer. I find moments to be treasure-worthy. It’s not all good, but it’s good.

Earlier in my life, when I read the Christmas story and came upon the phrase: in the fullness of time, I took it to mean full in the sense of crammed to the brim–and I lived my life accordingly.

I was wrong.

The phrase means: when the time was right, or ripe.

I don’t fully understand what made that time “right” in God’s eyes. What I do know is in my own life, God is never early nor late. I may want him to come sooner, do something sooner. change things now–but I have come to trust two things completely: if things don’t happen on my time table, then God is still working things out; and he is absolutely trustworthy.

When things come together we often say the time was right. We are often in the right spot at the right time–or not. It’s the right time to get married, to have a child, to buy a car. The stars align. The market is favorable. We can identify physical markers and emotional leanings–so why would we be surprised when God says, “It’s time.”

And that’s how we are invited into this Advent season. However full or empty our world seems, it’s just right for God to work. With the same child-like excitement that builds toward opening Christmas presents, let’s anticipate the gift God has for us.

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