Right Time

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. (Galatians 4:4)

We all know what it means for something to happen at just the right time:

A man happened to be in a certain place and there he met a particular lady. He had no idea that she would eventually become his wife. (That happened to me!)

A lady turned left at an intersection. In so doing, she avoided the wreck which happened in the right lane in that next moment.

From his knowledge of investing in a certain industry, a man deposited money with his broker. Turned out to be just the right time to do that, as the investment doubled in value over the next three months and held steady.

A short conversational exchange between friends:

“Sorry, I was late! I forgot I needed to mail a package!”

“No problem; perfect timing! I was running a bit behind myself and just got here!”

The scenarios are numerous about things unfolding or coming together at “just the right time”.

God has chosen to work within the framework of history. History is time-bounded. And it was at a particular time in history that God intervened.

It was not incidental

or accidental

or coincidental

or happenstance;

It was at just the time that God determined. God’s determining of time for something to happen is the right time.

Some point out that Jesus was born during pax Romana, the time of peace in the Roman empire. Jesus came at a time of peace. The cessation of war allowed the good news to spread. The Roman road system was developed during this time, and thus evangelists were able to traverse about freely. God used the time of peace to provide an opportunity for teaching and receiving of this special one, the Messiah. God intervened, purposefully, intentionally, without mistake, and certainly not in a random fashion. He sent Jesus at the right time, His time.

An inquirer to the Christian faith asked me once if December 25 was when Jesus was born. I explained that we don’t know the actual day He was born. Church leaders set that day as the day to celebrate  the coming of the Christ Child. While we will never know the actual day of the birth of this particular baby in central Israel by an obscure, young Jewish lady, what is important is that He was born. That day of his birth is part of the details and narrative of the history of the world, even though we can’t recover the specifics of which day, what time of day, and the height and weight of the baby. We know of no one sending out a message, time-stamped, which read, “Rejoice with us! Mother and baby are doing fine. New father is recovering!”

“Just the right time” is the best answer to the question, “When was Jesus born?” In God’s plan and from God’s perspective, His birth came when God knew it would be most advantageous. We celebrate His arrival at just the right time!

“Father, thank you for the birth of Jesus at just the right time—we marvel at how you have always had a perfect plan, and you have always put the details together to carry out your plan! Though we sometimes question your timing, we know that you are not absent or disconnected from the arranging of events. You have the big picture in mind. Teach us to trust you regarding timing. You demonstrated in the coming of Jesus that your timing was the right timing.”