He is near

One day last week, I stayed at work a little later than usual. Mindy and I had plans to meet for dinner before choir rehearsal, so I figured it would be easier to work up until that time, then go home. As I was driving across town, frustrated and mad at the state of the traffic fleeing downtown, I watched as the sun started sinking into the clouds. And as dusk settled over the train of cars waiting to get on the Interstate and the day was slipping away, fading from afternoon into night, I watched as the street lights came on. They didn’t flicker or take time to warm up. They just came on, all at once, right exactly at the moment they needed to, when the afternoon light had faded enough to reach the appropriate level of darkness.

At that moment, I understood the phrase “fullness of time.” The street lights came on right at the moment. And that’s how Jesus came into this world—just at the right moment. The fullness of time had come, and it was time for Christ to enter this world and become a human just like us. To set God’s plan into action. To walk with us in the fear and uncertainty, the moments of unexpected joy, perfect moments of peace, and stress, disappointment, and frustration. He came at the moment the world needed Him, and He came to save. And even as our celebration of His birth draws closer and closer, I know just as sure as I did when I saw those street lights that He is near; He cares; and He knows.

I saw and felt Him this week. I saw Him in the peaceful face of a too-young widow as she hugged a young woman she loved. I saw Him in her as her eyes closed and her face relaxed and she let His arms and love wrap around her. I heard Him at the Nashville Rescue Mission in the thankful voices of men who just enjoyed the company, food, and fighting over a package of tube socks. I felt Him in the lyrics of a song, the kind words of a friend, the hope in the middle of despair. He is near. And He is hope, peace, joy, and love.