What a difference a few hours make…

At 2:00pm this afternoon life was pretty normal. I was thinking about what video camera i should buy (HD capable or just inexpensive?), enjoying the snow that fell in our area last night, and plotting out the time that i could play xbox360 while not annoying tania too much (probably when she goes to bed).

All that was fairly normal until 3:20pm when we walked into the obstetrician’s office for the latest check-up on our as yet to be born daughter. (By the way, does anybody have any great name suggestions?) Actually, by the time we saw the doctor it was more like 4:00pm. And, i suppose even the doctor visit is mostly routine at this point, since we have been going in twice a week. It was really just one sentence that the doctor said that really messed up my world…

“We need get this baby out this week.”

Hmmmm…. now, i was under the assumption that we had about 2-3 weeks left. In fact, i feel a little bit confused, because for my whole life i have been taught that it takes 9 months to make/bake a baby. And now, i learn that some babies are done two-to-three weeks early!

My question is what if the parents aren’t ready at the same time as the baby is ready? What if they aren’t exactly sure what to name her? What if they haven’t totally got their “bag” packed yet? What if they just bought the infant car seat today? What if they have a major student-ministry leadership summit that they are hosting at their church next weekend? What if they haven’t washed all the clothes the baby will need to wear when born? What if the kid’s nursery is still not complete?

What if we aren’t ready yet?

I wonder if Moses ever felt ready when God asked him to go rescue His people from Egypt. His constant excuse making in Exodus 3 seems to say otherwise. I wonder if Joshua felt ready to take over the leadership of the Israelite people. God’s encouraging words to him in Joshua 1:6-9 seem to indicate that he may have felt unready and afraid. I wonder if the many prophets in the old testament that God used to deliver a rather unpopular message to his people ever truly felt ready for what lay ahead. Their many struggles and prayers recorded in scripture seem to show their trepidation.

I wonder if Jesus Himself was ever actually READY to go through with the act and purpose He was born for–to go to the cross. Maybe eventually. But during the night before in a little garden outside Jerusalem, he at least prays the prayer of those that are unsure.

Are we really ready? …maybe it just doesn’t really matter… maybe what is most important is not whether or not i feel completely ready, prepared, poised or organized for what comes next. Maybe what is important is that we simply trust that God IS READY, to take us on this journey that by ourselves we will never be adequately prepared.

Maybe Moses, Joshua, the prophets, and Jesus didn’t need to be completely ready, what happened didn’t depend on their readiness, but on God’s. God was ready. God is ready. Those before were simply willing to trust His readiness and step out and follow.

I guess i’m really not ready. But, God is. And in the end, it is good enough for me.