A Recipe for a Savior, Day #3 At the Right Time

AT THE RIGHT TIME

Day # 3

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law…

            When you bake something, do you follow the recipe precisely? Or course you do. (Some of you will argue that you bake according to your own way. But when you started, did you follow recipes?) You add just the right amount of salt and the correct amount of flour. But what about the cook time? When I bake, I set the timer so that it is in the oven the correct amount of time. I have been told that I don’t need to be so precise. The time needed to bake something isn’t “hard and fast.” It is more of a suggestion. Those of you who bake regularly know this. You watch that which you are baking and you know when to pull it out. It might be earlier than the 40 minutes or maybe it is a little longer than the time suggested.  You pull it out at just the right time.

            Adam and Eve had heard the promise of the Savior from the mouth of God. They didn’t know when He would come. Eve even named her son Seth, thinking she had received the promised one of God only to realize that she was wrong. It was the wrong time for the Savior. She learned that really fast as Cain killed Abel.

            We are often like Eve. We think we know the timing of God. As things unfold in our lives, we look at the events and just know it is the right time for things to happen. We figure that we have in mind the things of God, or perhaps God has in mind the things of our lives. He is acting in our time. It will frustrate us as we find that we are wrong. We get even more frustrated waiting for God’s right time.

            “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son…” At just the right time, just like a bake that knows just when to pull out the bread or the cookies so that they are just right, God knew the right time to send the Savior. No one but God knew that right time – not Adam and Eve, not Satan, not any of us. No one but God knew just the right time.

            That is the wonder of Advent. At just the right time, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law in order to be the Savior of the world. It wasn’t too late. It wasn’t too early. It was just the right time. God had the perfect Recipe for a Savior, one that came together at just the right time. God’s time is precise and wonderful.

Prayer: Dear God, it is hard to wait for just the right time in our lives. Yet at the right time, You sent the Savior for each of us. At the right time, You work in our lives. Help us to trust in Your timing as I go through the events in my life. Amen.

Deeper Thought: As you think of Adam and Eve, how difficult do you think it would have been to wait for God’s time, especially in light of the Cain and Abel incident? In what areas of your life do you find it difficult to wait for the Lord’s timing?