Looking back over the past year, there have been so many times when my heart ached and clung to that promise. My Savior is coming back! He is going to redeem the world and rule and reign with justice! There will be no more sin, no more pain, no more junk! My eyes have been blown open to the realities of this world more in this past year than ever in my lifetime.
I have seen poverty.
I have seen desperation.
I have seen I have seen people hurting. Daily. Every SECOND of the day.
I've seen hopelessness.
I've been working in foster care...if that doesn't scream to your soul the world's need for the Savior, I don't know what will. I have children as clients who are quite aware of the extent of the evil in man. Even this week in my hometown, something horrific happened that left two children without a father or a mother and countless people grieving.
I have seen fear.
And for those who don't know Christ as their Redeemer, there is plenty reason to fear. This world is but a tiny muted taste of what eternity in hell without Christ will be like. How could anyone want that? Especially when Christ offers so much more!
Although my heart breaks and at times I am weary, I have no fear. If you belong to Christ, fear is not for you!
Isaiah 43:1 "But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine."
Psalm 118:5-6 "Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
I am more certain than ever that this world is not my home. My home and my comfort is in Christ. I watch and watch eagerly for His return. Advent. He is coming! =)
The Message version of Romans 8:18-28 provides an interesting perspective:
18That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. 19The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. 20Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in 21until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
22All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. 23These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. 24That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. 25But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. 27He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. 28That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Watching and waiting, my friends. And in my waiting, may God be glorified.
-t
