The right time

Romans 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

It was 1976, and we were visiting my aunt Dora in Orlando, Fl. The day had started out with a bang with my first visit to Disney World. It was sensory and sugar overload pushed to a new level with rides, characters and candy. Somewhere in Frontierland, my brother Chris and I picked our the one toy we could buy with our allowance, pop gun rifles. The minute we got back to my aunt's apartment, we begged our parents to let us go out and play "hide and seek shoot out", where we tried to out flank the and "shoot" each other. Finally they relented with the words "be careful" and "stay close".

We were having a ball running, ducking and shooting at each other like the actors we saw in Frontierland for quite a while. Then something weird happened. I went to hide in a new place expecting my brother to move along the same direction for our next showdown, he just never showed. I waited for a while, but Chris was no where to be found. Then it started getting dark. It was at that point that I looked around to realize that I had no idea where I was. The fun and bravado of the shootout was replaced with weakness and fear. I was six years old, in a city I had never set foot, with no clue which way to go. So I do what all boys do in that spot. Wander around and cry. This went on for what seemed like hours, but was only about 30 minutes in reality. Groups of kids that lived in the apartments would just look at me wandering and crying, and quickly move off or go back to their games. It was now pitch black and quite scary. I didn't know my aunt's address, phone number or anything except she had a blue Kharmann Ghia, lived on the second floor and there was a spot of bubble gum about 2" around smashed into the concrete, on the stoop near her door.

By the grace of God, at the perfect time, one of the older teenage girls that lived there, ad compassion on me and came and asked me why I was crying. Thankfully she took me to the lady who ran the apartment complex who knew everyone who lived there. The lady asked me who my aunt was and I kept saying "Dora Quarles" over and over and it wasn't ringing any bells. As it turned out, I had wandered across a busy road and into another apartment complex. The lady figured it out, and offered to drive me through the complex to see if I could recognize anything. Immediately as we entered the complex, I started recognizing landmarks and the fear ebbed a bit. Then I spotted the baby blue VW and joy struck my heart. The lady took me up to the door, and as we approached, I saw the bubble gum blob and knew I had been rescued. We knocked but no one answered. Uh oh. As we turned to go down the stairs, my parents, brother and Aunt drove up as they had been out searching for me. My mom hugged me in deep relief. After a tongue lashing about wandering off, we went up to Dora's apartment and ate some supper. I am thankful that God put that teenager and lady in the right spot, at the right time.

Paul, in Romans five above, has that same emotional praise for Christ when he says, " at the right time Christ died for the ungodly". The whole Old Testament clearly painted the picture of man's need for a Messiah to save men from their sin. The Old testament revealed God's Holiness, man's sin, and the need of sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of a God who demanded Justice. There was a clear gap between God and His creation that needed bridging. Prophets for hundreds of years painted pictures of the coming conquering King and suffering savior. Then perfectly at the right time, in Gods' redemptive timeline, Jesus shows up with the whole world on His shoulders as a baby born in a barn. He lived a righteous life and committed that life of faithfulness to God on the Cross. That perfect life serves as the atoning sacrifice for all who submit to His loving reign in our lives. What a God we serve!

Jesus has pursued each of us that call him Lord, Savior, and Treasure at the right time and place as well. Sealed with the Spirit, we are able to approach God as Daddy. As we get closer to Him we start seeing the markers of Christ all around us that draw us closer to Him, just like the bubble gum spot and the baby blue Kharmann Ghia drew me closer back to Dora's house. Take time this Thanksgiving day to praise God for his pursuit of all men at the perfect time on the cross, and you individually as he pulled you into the sheepfold. As we enjoy mounds of food and fellowship, let us not forget to intercede in prayer and deed for others who are starving in their stomachs and souls for the Grace of God. Pray that God would lead you to specific people and places, so that he might use you just like he used that teenage girl in my life as a part of His divine plan of redemption.