Just a Feeling

I think things are beginning to wind down. I do not speak on any authority here, so please just consider this particular letter as an opinion, conjecture, if you please, but I believe that before we go home, we will be at peace. Not externally perhaps, there may be wars and famines, economic collapse, the world around us may be on the verge of complete collapse, but we will be at peace. The best way that I can describe it is that our work may be almost complete.

Now, I may be completely wrong, I may need to change that statement to “My work for Him here is almost complete,” perhaps it is almost time for me to go home, as I stated, this is all based on nothing more than a feeling, so please, do not put too much stock into it. “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Cor. 13:11) I am far removed from those days, many decades, and so I do not write these words as a whim, they are not thoughts that I would generally follow, but there is coming a time for all of us who have given our lives to Christ to be poured out as a drink offering, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:6, when the work is almost complete, and I believe that that time is one of extreme peace.

A knowledge of the truth of Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) That we have understood and believed that He who we have given our lives to will fulfill what He has promised, ““Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude 1:24)

I hear from less and less born-again brothers and sisters, and I believe I understand why, we are secure in our belief in the promises of the Lord, He is our rock, (Psalm 18:2) and fortress, (Psalm 91:2) and while we attempt to encourage each other when we do meet, and I mean this in no disrespectful way, we do not need it as much. There is a peace that passeth all understanding, (Phil. 4:7) and we have found it, not one thing or one person can remove that peace and security from us, we have learned to be content. (Phil. 4:11) We rest in the Lord, not in each other.

You may think of it as a sporting match where the time is almost up, and your team is assured of the win, or as a long-awaited trip that is about to happen, and the excitement grows with each passing day. What we see on our monitors, our television screens, no longer adversely affects us, and it is not because we have become callous towards it, but because it is expected, the world is ripping itself to pieces, and we are calm. We, or I, will be leaving soon, and there is no hesitation, there is no fear, there is a subdued sense of anticipation, the work is almost done, the trials and tribulations will cease, we will be in the presence of joy. (Psalm 16:11)

I believe that everyone of us who have been serving the Lord faithfully, in whatever large or small way, knows this feeling today, and we do not look forward to the approaching days with gloom and doom, but with the realization that they will be behind us forever. Let the world continue on its path, in open rebellion against the Most High, believing themselves to be rulers of their own fate, we know better. Continue to reach out to them, continue to strive toward the high prize of the calling of Christ, (Phil. 3:14) let the truth of what awaits us overflow the despair and anxiety of the world, look as far down the path that He has placed you on as you can, and do not look back. We have put our hands to the plow, and we have no intention of looking back. The narrow gate is within sight.