(unmarked journal entry)

so long of a wait…the people were groaning under the roman boot. they had been occupied, their very land taken from them, but still they lived on as if it was still on loan to them. all of history was bearing down on this moment in time. they cried out for release, for hope, for freedom. this was the perfect time for the Messiah to come.

so long of a wait…the people were groaning under the weight of sin. they had been occupied, their very lives taken from them, but they still lived on as if it was still on loan to them. all of history was bearing down on this moment in time. they cried out for release, for hope, for freedom. this was the perfect time for the Messiah to come.

where we see a list of names, or historical events, God sees the culmination of His perfect timing. where we see a gruelingly long wait, God sees all of the pieces falling into place. where we explode with a lack of patience, the depth of God’s plan, timing, mercy & grace explode onto  the scene. our hopes for a basic, physical, temporary release are answered with a spiritual, permanent release that exceeds anything we could have dreamed up. this was the perfect time for the Messiah to come.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

(sidebar)

i am fairly certain that this one was written as a result of reading matthew chapter 1. again, it is unmarked, and so i can’t say definitively where this is based, but i had been reading the prophets, and working straight into the new testament, so matthew 1 makes sense.

usually when we see genealogies in scripture, we tend to mentally glance over them. it’s a list, right? and what good does it do to read  simple list of names? we want to look at something with a plot or some kind of story. it feels like reading through a grocery list, or a supply list for the ark or something.

but if we take just a moment to look at the names in that list, we do see a plot at work. we see God’s timing, and the efforts of His will coming together to form a perfect resolution to a problem that was deeper than military occupation.

we see the surface of most issues pretty easily. but the undercurrent, the events leading to the issue, and where they will eventually flow to,  remain hidden like an underground river. always  moving, always shaping, always leading somewhere that we cannot see until we find the point where it emerges from the earth.

God’s will, His plan, is always moving, always shaping, always leading somewhere that we cannot see  until we find the point where it emerges in history and everything fits together perfectly.

trust in His timing, even if you don’t understand, and have faith in where He leads, just as abraham did. the Holy Spirit will never steer you wrong.