There are a lot of people that are singing the praises of God, (first and third stanzas only, please) who will soon be wondering what’s going on, there are a lot of people who keep saying repetitively, “Jesus is coming back soon” who are going to be wondering “Why is God letting this happen to me?” They will not be those, at least not all of them, that will repeat 2 Peter 3:4, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” but they will feel confused and bewildered, because their timeline has not been met, because terrible things are happening to them, and they were not supposed to, they were supposed to be protected, they were supposed to be raptured. “For the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:16)
The mindset they have had over the past decades has been one of convenience, the job will be there tomorrow, so a little debt isn’t that bad, in fact, its quite acceptable, there will be a good show on the television, or at least something to stare at until its time to go to bed. The weekend will be here soon enough, the plans made will be accomplished, there will be fuel at the gas station and food at the grocery store, we’ll sing the first and third stanzas and then go on that picnic.
When life begins to change, when the trials arrive at their doorstep and are not just “over there” anymore, faith in Christ is found to be what it might not have been thought to be. The flowery, lovely Jesus turns into one who seems to have forsaken them, who seems to be judging them, who seems angry. The songs will begin to stop being sung with such vigor, the questions will begin to arise, and faith, what faith they believe they had, will fall by the wayside.
Jesus tried to tell the eleven that they would desert Him in the garden, (Matt. 26:31) they did not believe Him, and most of those I am speaking about here would not believe you if you told them about these things concerning themselves. They would like to think that they are stronger than that, that their faith can move mountains, that they will not be inconvenienced. When all that they have has been taken from them, they will find themselves in a cage, or out in the desperately cold world with no shelter, they will either find that Jesus Christ is enough, or He is not, then they will know who they serve.
But most of them today are enjoying a regular day, ordered and expected, nothing more perhaps than a mild inconvenience, a simple snag in their prescribed plans that can easily be adjusted to, and others, those who have found it necessary to face a trial of some kind, the death of a friend or family member, a fire or flood or other similar disaster will believe in time that everything will return to some semblance of normality, and soon they will be able to go back to that convenient world, singing the first and third stanzas with joy again.
Our faith in Jesus Christ my friends is not to be based on the current circumstances of our lives, it is to be based on the promises He has given us, our character and integrity is not to be modified by our being inconvenienced, but on the trust that He is Lord, and that all things, no matter how we view them, are for good. (Romans 8:28) Far too many have been deceived into believing that means our good, when it means the glory of God. And that is the point of this short letter to you, all of our lives, no matter what happens in them, is for the glory of God, not for us, we are servants, we are slaves, and slaves do not only do what they have been commanded to do but accept that which is laid before them. No matter what, “Thy will be done” is to be our response.
