Do you remember being in high school and waiting eagerly for graduation? What a joyous occasion that was! Family and friends all gathered to congratulate us and wish us well. Then when it was over, we faced the rigors of college life or of learning to survive on our own as an adult.
What about those months right before you married? Talk about eagerly waiting! A wedding day is one of the most exciting, beautiful days in a lifetime. And when it’s over, it’s time to learn how to live intimately with a new spouse and then how to raise a family.
Interesting, isn’t it, how easy it is to wait eagerly for the milestones of life without preparing emotionally for what is to follow?
The Bible describes several waiting occasions.
The young nation of Israel lived in Egypt 400 years, part of that time as slaves, waiting to escape to their Promised Land. And when God sent a deliverer to lead them back to the land of their forefathers, they had to trek through a wilderness 40 years, then go to war with the nations living in the Promised Land.
At the beginning of time, God promised He would send a Savior to deliver mankind from the sin nature we inherited from Adam and Eve. That wait lasted thousands of years. And when the Savior arrived, most people didn’t recognize Him. Those, who did realize their Messiah had come, had to watch Him die on a cross. Then they faced persecution, hardship, and death, as they continued His ministry.
And now WE wait.
Before Jesus departed, He told His disciples He would return. The Church has been waiting for Him ever since…two thousand years later, we’re still waiting.
So, here’s my question: When the wait is over, what kind of reality will we be dealing with?
Maybe I’m a Pollyanna, but, as I read the Bible, I don’t see the Church struggling through a wilderness or a war as did the young nation of Israel. And I don’t see us facing persecution and hardship, as did the early Church.
No, it seems to me that when Jesus honors His promise to return for His Church, He will catch us up into a glorious existence in Heaven. We are His bride, and He will have prepared a magnificent banquet for us – the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Waiting is tough. And sometimes, when the waiting is over, things get even tougher.
But when it comes to waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, a new pattern emerges. Waiters on the Lord will be catapulted into a glorious existence. It will be an existence free of pain, free of sorrow, and free of death.*
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! **
* “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4
** “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20
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