The Time of Fulfillment: Part One

Early morning, two days before Christmas, I rose and went into my prayer room, opened my Narrated Bible and began to read the account of Jesus’ birth. It’s a tradition of sorts that began when I was a child and remains with me to this day. Reading the biblical account helps to put all things related to this time of the year in proper perspective.

This time as I read the familiar passage from Luke’s account, one verse seemed to lift from the page and from that verse one word seemed to flash like a neon sign in the midnight sky.

“Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord." Luke 1:45 NASB

I could sense the Holy Spirit telling me this is a word for His faithful (those filled with faith) ones for the coming year: There will be a fulfillment of the things I have told you!”

Fulfillment -- accomplishment, completion, achievement, attainment, carrying out, carrying through, consummation, contentedness, contentment, crowning, discharge, effecting, end, gratification, implementation, perfection, realization, you got it

There will be a fulfillment of those things I have told you because you have and continue to believe!

Tears splashed like mini raindrops on the pages of my bible as I thought about all the promises, all the prophetic words, all the dreams and desires that I have hidden in the coffers of my heart. Many of those promises have yet to come to realization; many buried like hidden treasures. This is the time of fulfillment!

I thought about the various let downs and disappointments, the promises broken and the hopes dashed. All the “not-quite’s”; all the “almosts”; even the “fat chances.” All the challenges in their many forms and the fight to hold to just an inkling of hope – like Abraham “who without reason for hope, in faith went on hoping” (Romans 4:18 The Bible in Basic English).

I looked at the path my life had taken with all the seeming detours that might suggest that I just needed to let go of some of those hopes and dreams with quiet acquiescence, face reality, and surrender to what is.

The Holy Spirit reminded me of the number of times we read these words in Scripture:

“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord. . .” Matt 1:22

“But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written. . .” John 15:25

All this was done! All what?

All the events of my life. All the circumstances surrounding my life! All this has happened that God’s word concerning me might be fulfilled. None of it is wasted or inconsequential! None of it!

All this!All the successes and all the disappointments. All the clear paths and all the obstacles. All the open doors and all the closed doors, even those slammed in my face. All the yeses that should have been no’s and all the no’s I thought should have been yeses. All the moments of acceptance and all the times of rejection. All the times I’ve been understood and all the times I have been grossly misunderstood. All the moments of truth mingled with the lies intended to halt me in my track. All the wonderful choices and all the bad decisions. All the positioning; all the displacements.

All this! All the victories, all the triumphs; all the losses, all the failures. All relationships.

All this!

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who live God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NASB

All this was done and all things are working in symphony to achieve God’s will for our lives!

It was so with Jesus; it is so with us!

All things are preparing us to receive the promise! All things are working to align those who are a part of that fulfillment because neither the promise nor its fulfillment are simply about you or me. There are a host of others that God desires to use, desires to benefit in some way from what He has promised us.

As we look back over the year and reflect on the things that happened, rejoice in knowing that all this happened that the word to you might be fulfilled, and now is the Time of Fulfillment!

One last point, notice the indefinite article that is used. It says a fulfillment; not the fulfillment. I find that interesting. A fulfillment suggests one of many. That gives me an even greater expectation. I may see a fulfillment, an unfolding of what God has purposed for me in this season, but it is not the end. There is more to come!

For anyone who has placed some hopes, dreams and desires on the shelf or even buried them and moved on, God wants you to know now is the time of Fulfillment!

Everything has been working for good and the manifestation of “all this” is at hand!

Believe it and rejoice!!

Live Wisely; Live Well

I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:10b The Message

Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well!
Psalm 90:12 The Message

It was a quiet Sunday evening. The big brown “chair” in my living room embraced me like two loving arms and cradled me as I sat relaxing in front of the television when the phone rang. I was elated as I checked the caller ID to see that the call was from my friend in Cleveland. We had not spoken with each other in a few weeks and I eagerly answered the phone.

The voice on the other end was not my friend’s. Immediately I knew – “My father passed away yesterday morning. . .” My heart sank and tears began to well up in my eyes. My dear friend of nearly twelve years was gone.

“He always spoke of you; of how much you encouraged and inspired him. Your friendship meant a lot to him. You inspired him to fight.”

I was stunned. Yes, I knew he was sick. He had been battling a rare form of cancer for well over two years now. The last time I had talked with him, he sounded better than he had sounded in a while. He was home. He was in a place of peace and filled with hope and faith that made my heart swell. I prayed often with him and for him; we both expected to see God do the miraculous.

“He was a good man and a good friend. I will miss him and I will definitely be praying for you and the rest of your family,” I managed to say. I hung up the phone and cried. I rest in the fact that my friend knew Jesus Christ. I had watched him over the years grow in his relationship with God. We often spoke of that process of growing in grace and coming to know the Lord in a more intimate way. We prayed together and encouraged one another to press into that place in God where nothing else matters. I believe that in his sickness he found that place. I heard in him a deeper faith and deeper intimacy with the Lord in the months that followed his diagnosis.

I rest in the fact that he is not in pain. I am reminded of the words I heard years ago: “Death is the final healing.”

But I am saddened. I am saddened at the loss of my good friend. Though he lived nearly five hours away and we didn’t see each other often, we talked frequently. He made me laugh. He made me think. He challenged me. He inspired me. And while we had the testing times that all friendships face, we emerged from them knowing that this was a friendship forged by God in love.

I am saddened by the awareness that there are many things we will not experience together. I’ll never taste the award-winning white chili he bragged on; he’ll never taste the dressing I boasted of. We’ll never play that game of air hockey. I’ll never see him dance – one of those things he so loved to do. He won’t hear me sing again. He’ll never travel with me to the missions field as we had once talked about.

Winston’s death has stirred something deep in me that I can’t shake and that pray I never shake. It is a defining moment of sorts. The older I get the more keenly aware I am of the tenuousness and preciousness of life. And while we must always continue to believe and expect the miraculous, while we continue to stand in the finished work of Jesus Christ, we really don’t know the number of our days. There are things we cannot, should not, must not put off until tomorrow. Winston’s life and death serve to remind me – to remind us all – to live fearlessly, to take deep breaths inhaling and then exhaling love, laughter, joy, grace.

No dreams put on hold! No words left unsaid! No love withheld!

What a magnificent gift God has given us in Christ Jesus – Abundant Life!! There is no rewind button! There are no do-overs! This is it! And it is grand and filled with wonder and promise. Despite the challenges, the mountains, the tests, it is so worth the living! I am determined to lay down each night knowing I unwrapped the gift of life for that day and explored all the wonderful possibilities, tasted the beauty of it, made a difference, and honored God simply by living wise and living well and having no regrets!