Did you know that between the end of the old testament to the beginning of the new testament nearly 400 years pass? For you and I, a simple turn of the page spans four centuries. Believers had been waiting several generations for the promised king to come. Have you ever really stopped to think about that?
I have a hard time waiting for anything…especially when you don’t know it is going to come. You wake up every day and think, “maybe TODAY is the day.” At the end of the day, you say to yourself, “maybe TOMORROW is the day.” That goes on for awhile and you think maybe next week or next month, but then nothing happens. It is easy to get anxious or angry. Doubt may then set in.
Over the four hundred years between the old and new testament, there was no movement from God as far as we know. There were no new promises or miracles. No sign of any kind for FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.
What happened during that four hundred years though? Look at history. A kid named Alexander was conquering most of the world. Along the way, a common language, Koine Greek, was spread throughout all the conquered lands. After that, the Roman empire began to build roads and systems to move about their empire. But, still God was nowhere to be found. His people were still waiting.
After four hundred years, the long awaited King came in baby form. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and throughout his life on Earth his believers wrote down what he said and did. A majority of the new testament was written in the common language of Alexander the Great, Koine Greek. After the death of Jesus, his disciples were sent out throughout much of the Earth, traveling on the very roads the Roman empire had constructed and defended. No one was able to visually see what God was doing during those four hundred years of waiting, but God was still working and he was still moving in his timing. God created an instrumental language and had already started preparing the way (literally through roads) when no one knew he was working.
God’s work does not depend on our perception of his working. When we are waiting, God is working.
Whether you are waiting for permanency for a foster child, a vaccine for a stupid virus, for a husband/wife, for a new job, or anything else life asks us to wait for. God is still working while we wait.
Be encouraged this Christmas friends. Even in this hard year when we don’t always see him working, God is still a God of love and he keeps his promises.
Happy Christmas, Koko
