ABSENT

When Joelene was pregnant with our girls, we didn't have to wait very long from the moment she had those first labor pains/contractions till the time we saw our girls face-to-face.  I mean, we had to wait the nine months like everybody does, but once they were read to emerge, they did.  Fast.

Her labor with our first, Whitney, lasted less than 2.5 hours - from the time of the first contraction to the appearance of our daughter.

Daughter #2 - Allison - had a labor of only 45 minutes.  We almost didn't make it to the hospital.

Olivia, our third, had a labor that lasted only 1.5 hours.

I know.  Don't hate us.  Or at least just hate Joelene.

It would be very difficult for us to fully understand the wait time that preceded that first Christmas 2,000 years ago.

The promise of the coming of a Messiah was something the Israelites lived with -- not for nine months -- not for years -- not for decades -- not for hundreds of years even.  The very first promise of His coming is given way back in Genesis, thousands of years before Jesus actually came to earth.

That's a lot of waiting.

Along the way there would be more than 300 prophecies in the Bible about His arrival.  For thousands of years they heard it.  That's a lot of hoping -- it's a lot of longing -- it's a long time to watch and wait.  They lived with this anticipation.  In fact, they had to be wondering at some point -- will a Messiah come at all?

From the last prophecy at the end of the Old Testament to where we pick it up in the New Testament there's a 400 year gap.  Four hundred years of silence from God.  He doesn't speak.

Is He listening?
Will He keep His promises?
Does He even care?

Then ... Christmas happens.  The birth of a Savior.

Christmas is a reminder that although at times God seems silent, He's never absent.

That's why Christmas is a reminder that although at times God seems silent, He's never absent.  It may seem He's taking a long time to come, but He's working.  He's planning.  He's moving.  He isn't sleeping.

He's never been absent in your situation.  God will come.

And be blessed.