Even when we can’t feel it, God is working. Even when we can’t see it, God has a plan.
Those truths are obvious when you look at the X-ray of a child’s tooth.
The baby tooth is easy to see, but just above or below it in the X-ray, depending on the location, you can clearly see the permanent one that is waiting for just the right time to make its appearance. That means right now in your child’s or family member’s little mouth, under those cute chompers, a full set of grown-up teeth is forming unseen beneath the gum surface.
That is just how it is when we are waiting on God’s timing. We don’t understand what we cannot see.
Imagine the 400-year span between the Old Testament and New Testament, between Malachi and Matthew.
The people were waiting for the Promised Messiah. They had pictured it in their minds – had hopes of deliverance. As time dragged on and on, He seemed like He would never come.
I read a while back that during that intertestamental period, the Romans – rulers of the day – were building roads all over their territory. Those Roman roads would expedite the sharing of the gospel. So, before Jesus came, God was laying the groundwork for what would take place after Jesus died and rose from the grave. He knew exactly what He was doing.
One of my favorite “waiting on God’s perfect timing” stories starts off the Christmas season. The book of Luke begins with an older priest named Zechariah, who had served the Lord all of his life. He and his beloved Elizabeth had walked faithfully and uprightly for all to see. But they had no children.
Once, when Zechariah’s division was chosen to serve in the temple, he had an unexpected visitor: Gabriel, an angel of the Lord. According to the Life Application Study Bible, “There were about 20,000 priests throughout the country at that time. The priests were divided into 24 separate groups of about 1,000 each, according to David’s directions in 1 Chronicles 24.” We can see it was not by chance Zechariah was chosen on that special day.
The well-past-child-bearing-years couple had waited decades for their prayer to be answered, but they continued to be faithful. Zechariah was serving the Lord while he was waiting and trusting His plan. I would like to mention here that Zechariah still went to church (aka the temple) even though his life had not worked out as he had hoped. When you miss church, you miss fellowship. You miss encouragement. You miss singing to the Lord. You miss praise. You miss prayer.
While Zechariah was burning incense inside the temple and Gabe was sharing his good news, the people were outside waiting and wondering why it was taking Zech so long. When he came out, in a Bible version of charades, he tried to explain all that had transpired.
When his time of service was completed, Zechariah returned home to tell Elizabeth what had happened. Well, actually, he couldn’t tell her anything. Gabe had taken Zechariah’s voice when he doubted the angel’s words.
What great tidings for Elizabeth! Life-altering, mind-blowing news. But she had to wait again nine more months for it to come to pass. She was trusting that her heavenly Father was forming/shaping this treasure inside her heart and womb, even though she couldn’t see how.
Join me on the pages of the first chapters of the books of Luke and Matthew. Let’s soak up all we can. Put yourself in the sandals of real-life people and walk through the true story of Christmas. Let it encourage you that while you are waiting, God is working.