At Just The RIGHT Time???

We have all heard it said, “timing is everything.” We like to align our circumstances, get our duckies are in a row and plan out the happily ever after ending. Wait until he is in a good mood before you tell him you wrecked his car. Wait until she is in a better mood before you tell her that dress is NOT flattering. Wait until the price drops to this number before you make that purchase. Wait until you have this much in the bank before you start a family. Then, at just the right time… the perfect time… things work out just as you planned.

In the story of Jesus (God, in human form coming to earth to live among us filthy, undeserving people) we hear the term, “at just the right time.” The timing must have been perfect because it was God that orchestrated the entire event. He got to choose the “who”, the “when” and the “where” throughout all of history for Jesus to make his appearance. So let’s take a look at this perfect timing of the God of the universe.

THE WHO:  First, he needed a host for the infant to make his appearance. Mary! Perfect! … wait… Mary was a single Jewish girl. This can’t be the right person to choose for the job! Jewish females were pretty much worthless in society, except for their ability to bear children. But… she was unmarried… no husband… no notoriety, no prestige. She can’t possibly be the mother of the King of the Jews! She was engaged to Joseph, however, so if she could convince him to stick around after she told him this ridiculous story about the baby within her being the child of the Holy Spirit, at least they could be a family. But what are the chances that this fine Jewish carpenter is going to believe that? He didn’t buy it and he was walking away from this scandal… at least until the Angel of the Lord appeared and changed his mind!

So this carpenter is going to be the dad to a baby that isn’t his. People will talk. People will point fingers at them. If only the timing had been different and they were already married they would have escaped all the gossip. “Why me?” Joseph must have wondered. And rightly so. Looking at his family tree you don’t find royalty for centuries past. He isn’t a priest, doesn’t live in Jerusalem, and he is a commoner who works with his hands and certainly doesn’t have the means to properly raise a King. What in the world is God thinking right now. This makes no sense!

It doesn’t get better… God literally throws this young woman into the home of this carpenter so that they can become a family. If you are married you already know that becoming “one” with that special person isn’t really all romance and bliss. There are adjustments to be made and lessons to learn. Taking into account the fact that she is a teenager, lacking maturity; is now obviously pregnant before the marriage causing stares and slanderous gossip; within her there is a battle ensuing of brand new, inexplicable and uncontrollable hormonal shifts; and the intimacy they may both be craving must be postponed until after the birth of this mystery she is carrying.

THE WHEN: The crisis continues when the decree is announced that, in her last trimester when she is feeling as big as a house and doesn’t know whether to be excited or ashamed or scared to death, she has to travel to the town of their origin to be a part of the first census. Great timing! Never before has there been a census and Caesar chooses NOW? I can hear her now, “Are you kidding me? We have to take a road trip?” We aren’t talking about just across town to visit your parents. We are talking 80 miles! How long would it take you to walk 80 miles when you are ready to be done with the heartburn, practice contractions (or are they practice contractions? Remember, this is her first child and all that she is feeling is subject to question), and… how do I say this politely???  Let’s just say there were probably a whole lot of stops along the way and no proper facilities!

THE WHERE:  Finally, the timing seems to be improving, for just as the contractions seem to be bearing down on her, the lights of Bethlehem appear. At least they will be able to find a suitable place to have this baby and he won’t be delivered on the open road!  They reach the town and, much to their dismay, every extra bed in town is already filled with others who have come to be counted in the census. If only they had been able to travel faster, they may have had a place to stay. If only there were no baby… less stops along the way… better timing could have made all the  difference!

I wonder how many times Joseph was offered a stable and how many times Mary said, “I am NOT having this baby in a barn! Keep looking!” The fear and anxiety of delivering a little baby is incomparable to any other experience on earth. “I want this baby out of me! No, wait! It hurts too bad! Make it stop! Please God, make him come! No, I am not ready to do this!” Back and forth the mind swings until the moment comes when there is no stopping the inevitable and perhaps Mary’s shrieks could be heard throughout the village. “I don’t care if it’s the worst barn in this town! I have to lie down… NOW!

We have heard the Christmas story many times and found it to be quaint and comforting, but when you really look at the story of Jesus coming on that first Christmas night, there is not a single thing for those involved that appears to be good timing in our human way of thinking.

Maybe, as you look at the things for which you are waiting in your own life, it seems that God’s timing is not lining up with yours.

“…but at just the right time, GOD…”  His timing is the RIGHT timing. We seldom see it. Life often looks like it is never going to align with what we want, the way we planned, the way it “should” be. The story of our Messiah; our Savior; our Redeemer coming to earth to reconcile us to our Creator proves that, what looks like disaster from the human perspective, is truly “just the right time” in God’s plan.

This Christmas, may your heart be renewed and your hope be restored as you take a glimpse into the greatest event of all time, orchestrated by the Master Designer,  and see that, in spite of our human understanding, God really does work things out “at just the right time.”

I am praying that, whoever you are, wherever you are, you will find a Merry Hope-filled Christmas!