READING: Song of Solomon 6-8, Galatians 4
“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son.”
Galatians 4:4
I’m impatient. I don’t like lines, and I don’t like waiting. My wife will tell you that I don’t wait long at all at a restaurant; if the wait is more than a few minutes, I’d prefer to go elsewhere where the line is not long. I’ve grown up in a microwave world, and that’s the way I want God to respond to my prayers: quickly and thoroughly. I teach people to be willing to wait, but I usually want to hurry up and tell them . . . .
So, I need to read often these words from Galatians 4:4-5—“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” God sent His Son at just the right time—when the world was ready for the spread of the gospel. The Roman Empire was generally war-free, thus enabling the believers to travel the empire with the gospel. Safer sea transportation and developing land transportation, combined with the use of the Greek language throughout the empire, also facilitated the spread of the Good News. Further, the failure of Greek and Roman religions to answer the questions of the people made them open to hearing about Christ. The world was ripe for the Word, and God sent His Son at that time.
“When the time came to completion,” though, was thousands of years after the fall of Adam.
I say it again: thousands of years. And I get frustrated when it seems like it takes God days to respond to my requests. . . .
God was working in all the intervening years, but it was centuries before He sent the solution to our sin problem. That seems like a long, long time—and it is—but God still sent Jesus at just the right time. Jesus came neither early nor late; He came right on time.
God’s timing is always perfect, even when He takes His time. I need to remember that truth.
ACTION STEPS:
- Give again to God any worries or burdens that you’ve carried a long time.
- Be patient today. Take a deep breath whenever you need to, trusting God’s timing.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to trust Your timing today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Isaiah 1-2, Galatians 5
