Feels like time is passing so quickly. God is the creator of time. He created the heavens and the earth, he created our Kronos time, he created our 24/7 clock, 365 days a year. As you know, in the New Testament, the Bible is written in Greek, and in the Greek language, there are very interesting words to describe time. One is Chronos time; that’s your regular clock, that’s like the time on your wristwatch. But there’s another word, and I believe it’s going to encourage you. It’s called chyros time.
What is Kairos time? Think about a timeline going like this: Kronos time and chyros time intersect, and there’s a divine moment from the Lord. Today, I want to talk about the biblical example of Mary and how God brought to pass a powerful and amazing kairos time in her life that has affected all the Earth.
You know, Mary was just an ordinary young Jewish girl. She was going through her Kronos time, but in the midst of her Kronos time, God faithfully brought to pass a kairos moment in her life. God remembered his promise hundreds and hundreds of years before this moment that he would one day bring forth the Messiah. God sends forth the angel Gabriel and he says, ‘You’re highly favored, the Lord is with you, you are blessed among all women,’ and that she is going to bear and bring forth Jesus, the Messiah, the savior of the whole world.
At the end of all that message, the angel Gabriel says to her, ‘Nothing is impossible with God,’ because she was probably thinking, ‘This seems impossible.’ And when God gives you a word, he gives you a promise, it feels impossible, it looks impossible. Why? Because it’s going to take God to bring to pass what he’s promised you, and it can’t be done in your own strength. You cooperate with the grace of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
She doesn’t receive the word, and all of a sudden, boom, she’s nine months pregnant. No, she receives a word by faith, not by sight. And eventually, she does see a baby bump, and that’s how you and I receive the word. When God gives you a promise, you receive it by faith, but you might not feel anything, you might not see anything, it might look impossible. But as you’re faithful to the Lord and in God’s timing, you start to see your own baby bump in your life.
But Mary quickly finds out that when you receive a word from God, that doesn’t mean everything’s going to be perfect, everything’s going to go great. She had to go through some difficult times. She had to return to Nazareth. People were staring at her, saying, ‘Why is she pregnant? Did she cheat on Joseph?’ Joseph was going to divorce her quietly, which is a nice way of saying he was trying to avoid her being stoned to death because that was the penalty in Israel at that time.
But God was with Mary, and God is faithful to his promise. And so, he sends the angel to Joseph to let him know that this is from the Lord. But it still wasn’t easy for Mary, and so time goes on. Caesar Augustus, who was the enemy of Israel, releases a decree that causes Mary and Joseph to have to leave Nazareth and make such a difficult journey all the way to Bethlehem. And she’s about nine months pregnant, the worst time that that could have happened.
And as she’s making that journey, maybe she’s thinking things like, ‘Is God even with me? Has God forgotten about me? How is God with me? How is God even in control? How can he let this evil ruler Caesar Augustus release such a decree?’
Now, but what Mary couldn’t see at that time was that God was in complete control. The promise that he released in the Old Testament through the prophet Micah that the Messiah was going to be born not in Nazareth but in Bethlehem. And so, God used all these circumstances to bring Mary to Bethlehem so that he could fulfill his word, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem just as God spoke through the prophet.
You know, God is faithful. He is faithful to his word. Maybe you received the promise from God years ago, but now it feels like that promise is far away. Maybe it feels like it’ll never happen. Maybe you’re wondering, ‘Is God even with you anymore? Has God even forgotten about that promise? Is God even in control?’ I want to encourage you that God has remembered you. He is with you. He remembers his promises. He watches over his word to perform it. God has Kairos moments in line for you. Be encouraged. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Stay faithful because who knows? Maybe God is just using all these different circumstances, just as he used Caesar Augustus and other things going on in Mary and Joseph’s life to position you for that Kairos moment. Maybe God is using all these circumstances that don’t seem pleasant right now, seem difficult, to position you for your Kairos moment.
If you just eat salt by itself or eat baking soda by itself or flour by itself, those ingredients separate are disgusting, and they’re not pleasant to eat or to taste. But if you take those ingredients and give them to a Master Chef, that Master Chef knows exactly how to take all those ingredients and put them together perfectly to produce something sweet, something beautiful, something that you’ll enjoy eating and also want to share and bless others with.
I want to encourage you. Maybe in the past few years, you feel like you’ve been eating salt by itself or flour by itself. You’ve been going through situations that feel or taste like bitter things. But I want you once again to put your eyes on Jesus, give Jesus the Master Chef all those ingredients, and watch him take those things from you and work them together to produce something beautiful in your life that’ll bless you and bless others and bring to pass his Kairos moment in your life. He is faithful.
The Bible says in Romans 8:28 that he causes all things to work together for those that love him and are called according to his purposes. Have you received Christ? Are you born again? Then that promise is for you. Trust Jesus. Keep your eyes on him. If you fall along the way because of disappointments or this or that, just get back up, dust yourself off, keep running your race in your Kronos time, and watch God be faithful to bring forth Kairos moments in your life.
