Sunday Sentiments: Not What I Planned

 

Ten days. That’s all we have left between now and Christmas. And it seems like every person I talk to is running behind. Behind on the shopping. Behind on the gifts. Behind on the cards. Behind on the baking.

            Behind on the joy.

            We have grand plans for Christmas, don’t we? And we start early, at least in our minds. We dream and make lists and notes and have the best of intentions.

            And then time gets away from us and we face a deadline and realize we’re not ready. And we might not be able to recover in time to do all we wanted – or a fraction of what we wanted – by the deadline.

            Our church has been under construction since the summer. We hoped we might be back in our building this fall. And then we hoped for Thanksgiving. And then we hoped for Christmas.

            And now it’s going to be after the first of the year. Christmas won’t look like we planned or hoped.

            But isn’t that what the first Christmas was all about? Not like anyone on this earth would have planned? All displaced and temporary?

            And yet it wasn’t unplanned or less-than in God’s eyes. It was all the right place and the right time and complete in each way.

            So our lists and plans might not be going as we hoped. Everything might feel out of place.

            But God hasn’t lost sight of any of it. He can redeem and restore everything about this season, this holiday, this life we live.

            What feels behind is right on time – more than we know.