What if, living in Israel 2000 years ago, you knew that the Messiah was going to come to earth the next day. The breakthrough that you had longed for all of your life and all of your ancestors had longed for many centuries was about to happen. The Eve of God coming to earth was upon the world, and you knew that nothing would ever be the same again. The Eve of the beginning of the inauguration of the kingdom of heaven was here.
Many in Israel knew that “the great and terrible day of the Lord” was near, but no one seemed to know the exact time. It was going to be the “Great Day” because the Redeemer of the whole world would come, and it was going to be the “Terrible Day” for the enemy of our souls because the annihilation of his kingdom and the reign of sin was at hand.
If you had been one who lived in Palestine 2000 years ago on the Eve of Christmas and knew about the imminent arrival of the King of Kings, would you have been shocked and even disappointed to discover the next day that the breakthrough creation longed for since the fall in the garden of Eden was just a baby born in a stable to relatively poor young parents and lying in a feeding trough.
God uses history to teach us His ways. All of us, in pursuit of manifesting the fullness of Christ, long for breakthroughs. Many of us find ourselves desperate in situations longing for breakthroughs. Christmas Eve teaches me that God’s ways declare that breakthrough is just around the corner. Shouts of joy will come in the morning. God is the God of breakthroughs, whether your breakthrough is about advancing in personal Christ-likeness or victory in some situation. Whatever it is, you are living on the Eve of a breakthrough. Don’t be shocked or disappointed though, if the breakthrough looks insignificant and not as big as you hoped for. What if it just looks like a baby breakthrough, just something tiny. Never underestimate the ways of God. That was just a fragile baby lying in a feeding trough in a carved-out stable on a hillside in obscure Bethlehem, yet it was the most explosive breakthrough in human history. Our Christian life is the experience of wave upon wave of God’s grace and breakthrough. We are always living on the Eve of the next one. When it happens, don’t discern it through the eyes of your flesh. Celebrate the grace no matter how small it looks because in time, you will discover that it began a new change that will rock your world for God forever. Happy Eve of your next breakthrough.
Psalm 30:1-5,11-12 NASB95
I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me. [2] O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. [3] O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit. [4] Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. [5] For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. [11] You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, [12] That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.