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10 Minutes Peace

    by Susan McGrath

Precisely
Date Posted: January 27, 2007

In "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (movie version, not the book) when the wizard Gandalf arrives in the Shire, he is greeted by his friend Frodo Baggins, who simply says, "You're late."

Gandalf looks at him with a bit of a scowl and says, "Wizards are neither late, nor are they early -- they arrive precisely when they mean to!"

It reminds me of Christ's arrival. The Jews, who as God's chosen people had been anticipating the Messiah for hundreds of years, may have felt he was a little late. Perhaps that's why so many chose not to accept Him.

Mary, who had no idea of her part in God's plan to save the universe until about nine months before it came to be, and who was an unmarried virgin, may not have been quite ready.

But God was. Precisely.

Webster's defines "precisely" as: exactly or sharply defined or stated; minutely exact; or distinguished from every other. I love that last definition! How perfectly it describes the Messiah!

He had given the message to many prophets for hundreds of years. He had described the place and manner in which this miracle would occur. Months before it happened he prepared Mary for the shock of her life, then calmed Joseph's concerns. Precisely.

God prompted the most powerful man on earth at the time to call for a census of his vast lands, requiring Joseph to travel with Mary to his hometown, the city of David, from whence prophets said the Messiah would come. God made sure His son was born where He said he would be.

Precisely.

God continued to orchestrate these details throughout the life of His son on earth. Up to and including his painful death and his glorious resurrection.

Details like the type of wounds Christ would endure. Isaiah speaks of Him being pierced and crushed -- the crown of thorns and the beating, or perhaps even the lung-crushing torture of hanging on the cross --, and His burial with the rich --a wealthy member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, who donated his own tomb.

Precisely.

God fulfilled all the hundreds of prophecies made about the Messiah through Christ in the flesh.

Precisely.

When I have a concern, large or small, where should I go?

Precisely!

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Biography Information:
Susan McGrath is:

a recovering journalist trying to encourage others and glorify God through writing;

living the small-town life with husband Tim and sons Lincoln, 12, and Sawyer, 6;

completing a few put-off writing projects while using chocolate for therapy.
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