"But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son..." Galatians 4:4

Since Christmas I have been mulling over this phrase, "the fulness of time".   This verse is oft quoted in Christmas sermons and cards, so I guess it is no surprise that it was on my mind.  I was thinking about how God had His redemptive plan orchestrated from the beginning.  I can imagine the heavenly host anxiously awaiting the day of Christ's birth the way children wait for Christmas.  "How many more days is it?"  And then, finally, the time was perfect.   Jesus was "born of a woman, under the law" at the precise, preappointed time.  Not too early.  Not a moment too late.  Hmm.

The term "Fulness of time" is used only once, that I can find, in all of the Bible, but the word "fulness"  is used several.  It carries the connotation of completeness, doneness, ripeness.  As a baker of homemade bread, I think of it like this:  when I put my bread in the oven to bake, there is inevitably a precise moment when it is perfectly done.  A minute longer and it is too brown.  A few minutes shy and it is doughy inside.  That illustration helps me think about what "in the fulness of time" means.

Then as we moved on into the new year, naturally "time" was on my mind again.  Another year has passed. Another cycle completed.  We march into a new year headed for ...who knows?  Well, thankfully, God knows.  He has a plan for me that involves same perfect timing that orchestrated the birth of Jesus.  In the fulness of time He will send answers, meet my needs, provide direction. 

My problem is that I am not very patient.  I want to move forward according to my own timing.  God's sense of timing is so different that mine.   Sometimes it's downright scary in its "last minuteness".  Sometimes He totally and completely seems to ignore my real deadlines.  But here is what I need to remember.  He does everything at just the right moment.  In the fulness of time.  I am too quick to forget that.   In my self-centeredness I tend to think it is my agenda, my sense of timing that counts.   How wrong could I be?  I mean, sometimes I don't even bake my bread to the exact "fulness of time" perfection.  Do I really think I can orchestrate the miriad details of  my life?  Lord, save me from my arrogance and help me live 2010 resting in the fact that you are in control and that you will send what I need precisely when I need it.