When the Time Had Fully Come

"But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son."

(Galatians 4:4)

Waiting on God's timing is one the hardest things to do. But can you imagine waiting without the help of the Holy Spirit?! Can you imagine the world before the first coming of Christ? Forever, living in hopes that a Savior was coming. Being given that promise, and then just waiting. Not for months or years, but for generations. And generations. Through wars, death, famine, pain. Hundreds of years. Thousands of years. Without the Holy Spirit, without the presence of God in their hearts to sustain them. At times, seemingly without hope. 

God chose to wait. His chosen people suffered. They walked through the desert. God did have a plan. But the time had not yet come. 

Don't you feel that way sometimes? Like you are walking through the desert? Waiting for the hope of something to come? Waiting for tomorrow?  

God's people waited for their Coming King much longer than we have or ever will wait for anything. But when the time had fully come, He fulfilled His promise! 

We, like the children of Israel, must learn one of the hardest lessons in all of life. We must learn to wait. And to be diligent while we wait. There IS hope to come. We can cling to what He has promised us. Yes, easier said than done. Believe me! I am only 35 years old, but I am getting pretty good at the waiting game. Correction: I am not "good" at it, but I am living it. The guardianship process with Julia is taking longer than anyone expected. Who knows how long the actual adoption process will take when we finally have that door opened! And waiting for God's gift of a husband? Well, we won't even go there because that game is getting really old! (And "we" are too, by the way!) 

But I am learning that it is not just about waiting for God's timing. It is about waiting for Him. Waiting for the work He is doing. He is there. He is working. There is a reason we wait. There is a reason that His chosen people had to wait for His coming. It is about the preparation. "The answer in every case of God's timing is the same: preparation." ("Walk With God Devotional," Chris Tiegreen, Dec 23 - today's post inspiration)

So today, let our hearts prepare Him room. May we ever be in preparation for the coming of our King! Just as the people of God waited in anticipation, may we also wait in joyful anticipation of the fullness of God!

The time IS coming.