Hope That Waits

Matthew 1:21
She will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Luke 2:10-11
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
What must these words have done to the hearts of the ones who heard them.
Too long their country and their way of life had been under the heel of a Roman boot.
Kings ruling over them who had bought their position.
Taxes that strained the very life and existence out of the people.
Yet through it all Words that were written hundreds of years before told of a coming Messiah. A deliverer who would set up a new kingdom that would be greater than King David.
The priests spoke of such a person....Yeshua Hamasheach. Hope that God had not forgotten them. Hope that, even though seemed to be only a flicker of a flame, kept folks going day after day.

Now after all the waiting, divine angelic activity was on the increase as communication from heaven began to appear all around the people. 
An elderly priest name Zacharias had had an encounter where an angel had prophesied that he and his wife would have a son. 
A young virgin who was to be wed suddenly became pregnant, and told her husband to be that the pregnancy was from God. 
Shepherds on the hillside out from Bethlehem were shaken to their very core when multitudes of angels appeared to proclaim that the waiting was over.
The Messiah was here!


Now things would be different.
Now we would see the heel of the Roman boot lifted from the neck of Israel.
They would once again take their rightful place of prominence among the nations of the world.
But nothing happened.
From the time of the announcement until Jesus began his ministry was 30 years.
I wonder if the shepherds lost hope during that time?
I wonder if doubt crept in and stole the joy of that night on the hillside out from Bethlehem?

To the eye, it would appear that the proclamation from heaven about the coming Messiah was false.
30 years passed before Jesus began to heal, and teach.
Those 30 years was a time of preparation, not just for Jesus but for the people.
Even in those 30 silent years, God was moving and working his plan for Jesus to pay the price for our sin.
Jesus learned obedience. A lesson I need to take away from this posting today.
Jesus learned to pray and communicate with his heavenly Father.
A communication that was pure and powerful that Jesus simply "did" what the Father told him to do.
Those were not 30 wasted years in the eyes of God.
They were equipping years.

Don't be discouraged today if it seems that God has forgotten you.
He hasn't.
Don't loose heart over things He has spoken to your heart.
You are in the time of "equipping".
God's timetable and mine are completely different. I know that His is better than my impatience.
Let God do His work in you today.
Find joy and peace as you wait, and watch for the Hope of Glory!!

Merry Christmas....
God on you....
mbb