The Day Before

Today is Christmas Eve and over the years this day has taken on its own "holiday" status with special services and activities planned for this day, and especially this night, exclusively.

It is special primarily because of its lead-in as the day before "the" big day - Christmas.

Have you have ever had a sudden, life-changing event occur and then you reflect on the hours and days leading up to it, realizing you were clueless then how your life or your family's lives could change in a matter of minutes or hours?

Though the Jews had been waiting for hundreds of years for their coming Messiah, in their "Christmas Eve" they had absolutely no idea that their world would be turned upside down - The. Very. Next. Day. All of heaven knew what would soon transpire, but few on earth had a clue.

God made very little fanfare in the months and days leading up to Christ's birth. A few people were given a heads-up like Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, but really no one else.

The political and religious leaders did not receive a "pre-birth" announcement. Do you think the shepherds had a tingly feeling or a premonition about something coming? I doubt it. The majority of the Jewish people were not given a solitary clue that this point in time was unlike any other. They had been waiting for hundreds of years, so what would make tomorrow different from any other tomorrow?

But isn't this how God works? In unpredictable, surprising, catch-your-breath, I-didn't-see-that-coming kind of ways? He gives us His solid promises to hold on to, to keep our eyes on the horizon, but He often doesn't fill us in on His timelines.

He promises, "I am going to do this." But the details, like the when and how, He keeps for Himself. The fact that we are not made privy to these details, does not make His promises any less valid. God Himself backs up His Word and there is no one or nothing greater to do this.

So, perhaps you are waiting, believing God for a promise to be fulfilled. Don't give up hope. Wait expectantly. God is in the tomorrows. He is fulfilling His plans and purposes - one day at a time.