God’s timing is always right!
Matthew 2:13- After the Wise Men were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod will search for the child in order to kill him.” (EHV)
Humanly speaking, the story of Jesus should have been a short story. Harod came up with an ingenious plan. He found out from the Wise Men that the prophesied king of the Jews was born. Under the guise of worship, he commissioned the Wise Men to search for the child and report back to him immediately so that he could “worship” the newborn king. But it was all a rouse, and the Wise Men were none the wiser. They would have given Herod the exact place to find Jesus and he would have killed him. Though the Lord told the Wise Men to go home without speaking with Herod, Herod knew that the Messiah was in Bethlehem. To cover his bases, he planned on killing all boys two years and younger.
Though Jesus was destined to die, it was thirty years too early. The Lord had other plans. And no one can stand against the Lord’s plans. So, he warned Joseph and saved Jesus. God’s timing for Jesus’ death had to happen exactly as it did, at the cross in Jerusalem.
God will not allow his plans to save the world to be compromised. He was determined for his Son to fulfill all the promises he made throughout the Old Testament. If one of his plans failed, we do not have a Savior. This is why we can be confident in our salvation. This also gives us comfort that God’s plans for us will end in glory. We have plenty of trouble in our lives, but God’s plan is to deliver us from this life of trouble to a life of glory.
Just like Herod tried to destroy Jesus, the devil is the enemy who wants to destroy us. He wants nothing more than to drive a wedge between us and God. How often have we fallen for his lies and temptations! But he is powerless to stand against the Lord’s plans for us. We are completely forgiven because Jesus fulfilled his work at just the right time. We now have a place with him in his kingdom forever and there is nothing the devil can do about it!
Almighty God. We thank you for protecting your Son so that he could finish his work of redeeming us at the cross. Continue to work out your plan for us though your dear Son. In his name we pray. Amen!