Full Time

Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered,

and she brought forth a son.

Luke 1:57

The long awaited day had come. Elizabeth and her husband Zacharias hadn't just been waiting nine months; they had waited a lifetime for this day. Years and years of loving but childless marriage had passed in patient petition to the Lord, interrupted finally at Pentecost the year before with an angelic announcement: Your prayer is heard. In a celebraation of the most intimate expression of human communion, a moment of tender affection and climactic passion, Zacharias and Elizabeth acted in faith upon the promises of God, and in the womb of a woman thought beyond child-bearing, a prophet was conceived. For nine months, through the morning sickness and the expanding belly and the false labor pains, Elizabeth waited in hope. And now at last, all of the prayers and promises culminated in this day when she finally reached full term and gave birth to her son.

At least with a pregnancy, one knows--within a certain range of days--when the awaited day will come. I've never been pregnant (nor ever will be), but one day I hope to share the joys of fatherhood with the wife God sends to me. There will be a realization, a discovery, perhaps a test will be taken, a doctor's visit to confirm. Questions will be asked, between doctor and patient, between husband and wife, and then the calculations begin. I find the mathematical gymnastics a little confusing, but somewhere between 37 and 42 weeks from whatever point the formula starts, a new life is going to enter the world. Perhaps a date will be circled on a calendar somewhere. Trips will be planned. Anxious relatives will hold their cell phones in great anticipation. A suitcase will be packed and ready by the door. The car better be full of gas for the trip to the hospital. And in the final days of waiting, there may be alot of false starts. But one day for sure, if all things go as they are supposed to, that baby will arrive and it won't be a surprise, for he was expected.

But what about the other promises God makes? What about the things for which there is no time limit...just a "someday." What do we do then? I'll tell you what we do. We wait, and we pray, and we believe. If God has planted something in your heart, a seed of hope for a future you cannot see, a seed of faith to believe for some miracle, some Divine action, some earthly event to occur...if God has made a promise, you can rest easy in knowing that God will fulfill it. And depending on what it is, there are probably certain steps you can take toward that fulfillment. But God must direct the steps. We must never try to get ahead of God, or help God out, or otherwise try to make it come to pass. He who promised us is faithful, He will perform it. We need to wait.

It may not be a physical pregnancy, with a definite start date and a definite end date. But that promise still grows like a child in the heart of the believer, gestating, maturing, turning over and kicking from time to time. Life goes on around us, we continue with whatever it is God has called us to do. But inside, a little promise is growing. We may not know the due date, but if we stay in touch with God, He will keep us encouraged and expecting, He will continually pour out His Spirit and speak through His word. His voice will ease our anxieties if we will but incline our ears to Him. And then one day...

Something surprising will happen.

It may not be a heavenly visitation.

It may not be a seven-foot angel with a telegram on the end of a flaming sword.

It may not be a vision of Jesus standing at the foot of your bed in the midnight hours.

It may not be anything spectacular at all.

It may be as simple as a tiny stone being tossed into a pond. It makes a tiny plop and disappears, but the ripples it causes go on and on and on. Toss that same stone at the right spot on a mountainside, and it could cause an avalanche.

It may be as simple as a tiny spark, igniting a candle or a forest.

It may be as simple as a word fitly spoken, a stranger well met, an accident that is really an incident.

But whatever it is...it will be a God moment. It will be the right place at the right time. And in the fullness of time, that promise that God made to you--though it seemed it would never be fulfilled--will come to pass.

And what a day of rejoicing that will be!