As part of my daily routine, one of the first things I do each morning is have my Bible reading time. I get up early for it, and it has become a sacred part of each day. Regrettably, I haven’t always made it a priority. However, it has been for the last several years.
I don’t have an agenda during that time. I don’t usually take notes, though I will sometimes underline something and come back to study it later. During that block of time, I read straight through. I read from Genesis to Revelation, and it takes as long as it takes. I don’t try to complete it in a year or read a certain number of chapters. I just read a few chapters every morning until I’ve read it through.
I have done this several times now. Honestly, I wish I had been keeping a log of how many times I’ve read it through, but I wasn’t. I can accurately say several times. When I finish, I just start over the next day and do it again. It’s fascinating every time. It never gets old. I never grow tired of it. I never regret the time I’ve spent. And, I never read it without learning new things each time.
I say all that today to say that this past week I finished the Old Testament again. I always feel like that needs a mini celebration because that is not exactly full of the easiest reading. This week a friend and I were texting about some difficulties we are each having. First world problems for sure, but as friends do, we were just listening and talking each other through our respective challenges.
We had finished our conversation, and I went back and added – just to end our chat on a positive note – that I finished the Old Testament that day. I typed those words to her and then said aloud to myself, “Right on time because I need some Jesus.”
I couldn’t shake that and told her as per usual Jesus shows up right on time. Now, don’t come at me with every book of Scripture points to Jesus, I know. It had been a challenging few days prior as I had been battling some spiritual warfare. God has such a sense of humor sometimes. I had been praying that He would show in a couple particular areas. Just as I was telling my friend that I needed Him to show up, it’s time to read the Gospels and get up close with Jesus. It was the symbolic nature of the moment that got me.
Fortunately, I don’t have to wait 400 years between the Old Testament and the arrival of Jesus. One of the things that becomes clear as you dive into Scripture consistently is that God always shows up on time. Never too early and never too late. He does it over and over and over again. Yet, we still forget and doubt.
This week when I was really asking Him to show up for me, He did. Not exactly like I expected, but nevertheless He reminded me that He is here and on time. He wasn’t hiding. I just decided to look for Him.
John 1:1 (NIV) says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
It is difficult to wrap our brains around something that makes no earthly sense. The fact that Jesus is equal parts God and man is hard to process and takes a great deal of faith. Faith, in anything or anyone much less God, seems to be in mighty short supply these days.
The fact that the very words I read are God boggles my mind. Yet, my soul is convinced of it. Just when I find myself begging for God to show up and seeking Him for all I’m worth, He does. Jesus enters humanity again.
He didn’t solve all my temporary problems this week nor did He make any difficulties go away, He just reminded me that He’s bigger than all of them. He reminded me that He’s always on the job and always near. He reminded me that He is the Alpha and the Omega and everything in between. He is accessible to me, and to you, all the time, and He is always right on time.
Friend, I don’t know what battles you’re facing today, but I know that God is still on the throne. I know that He is working all things for the good of those who love Him. He hasn’t missed a battle or a deadline yet. And He won’t start with you. Chances are He won’t come like you expect, but He’ll be right on time.
