Last Christmas, instead of typical gifts, my wife and I gave our children and their families experiences we could enjoy with them. For instance, one of the families received a two-night stay at an indoor, waterpark resort near their home in the state of Oregon. But the trip wouldn’t take place for another six weeks. So, although our young grandkids were excited about the prospect of going there with us, helping them comprehend the time between the announcement of the gift as we gathered around the Christmas tree and its fulfillment a month and a half later proved a bit of a challenge.
When you’re as old as me, six weeks seems like no time at all. But for little ones, it can feel like forever. We often try to help them relate to the passage of time by describing it in terms of how many sleeps until a thing takes place. But if it’s any more than about three, their eyes usually glaze over, and they lose the thread. In this case, it would be forty-two sleeps, an unwieldy number for them to work out in their young minds.
So, along with their parents, we tried to find a way to explain it that would allow them to delight in a joyful anticipation while awaiting the arrival of the adventure, but they were just too young to see it in those terms. We had to satisfy ourselves with the knowledge that the eventual pleasure they would have when the day finally came would erase the disappointment of delay.
I don’t mean this to sound condescending, but John 16:16-22 describes an exchange between the disciples and Jesus that sounds similar. It was regarding an expression he used to help them measure the time between the announcement and fulfillment of two predictions he made. He told them a time was coming when he would depart from them and a time when they would see him again. He used the phrase, “a little while,” to describe how soon these events would take place, and the disciples wanted him to clarify how long that would be. But it was just not possible for them grasp it.
At first glance, it may seem he was being purposefully vague, but the Lord was being as precise as possible given the limitations of their understanding. He was speaking prophetically about two different departures (his death on the cross and his ascension) as well as two separate arrivals (his resurrection and his second coming) that would all be linked together in ways incomprehensible to them at the time. And to do so required using terminology from his timeless realm of eternity that went over their heads.
There was just no way to satisfy them. So instead, he turned their attention to the overwhelming joy they would ultimately experience when these things were fulfilled even if there was some short-term sorrow resulting from their lack of understanding. To do this, he used the illustration of a mother whose labor pains are completely erased when she gets to hold her baby. It’s as though she’s been emotionally transported directly from the promise of her pregnancy to its fulfillment, and in the happiness of that moment, every discomfort is forgotten.
We always think we can comprehend God’s timing. But the truth is his eternal perspective is more in every way than any of us can grasp. So, we often find ourselves insisting God provide us with greater clarity than we can actually handle. Instead, let’s be people who rest in the assurance of his faithfulness, refuse to be overtaken by the disappointment of delay, and live in the delight of the joyful anticipation that all God has promised us will come to pass right on time.