God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
2 Thessalonians 1:6-7, NIV*
I love happy endings. They can make even the most difficult story worthwhile. Sometimes it’s a hard slog to get there, but at last things work out.
Around the world, people are suffering. Christians aren’t the only ones, but they’re doing their share In North America, Christians have it easy: we’re only treated as irrelevant or repressive. (Some of that we’ve earned, but that’s another story.)
In Paul’s day, the believers in Thessalonica were suffering because of their faith The verses I shared above were to give them hope, but also to give them perspective: help is on the way, just hang on until He gets here
It looks like they expected Jesus to return any day and wrap things up. Good thing they didn’t know we’d still be waiting in 2010! But He is coming, when the Author and Finisher of our faith declares that the time is right.
I don’t understand everything in the Bible, but I’ve read the end of the Book: we win. Revelation chapters 21-22 are some of my favourite passages. After all the hardship, suffering and false turns, we’ll reach the end—and what a glorious end it will be!
Father, thank You for Your Holy Spirit—God with us, who strengthens and keeps us in the hard times. Help us fix our eyes and hearts on You and live by faith. Thank You that we have Your promises, including Your promise that in the end we’ll be with You.
∞
“Reading to the end of the book” brought to mind a song I hadn’t heard in years. Here’s Michael W. Smith with “End of the Book.” This is a long concert clip, and the first half is a cool instrumental piece. If you’re short on time, slide the progress button over to the three-minute mark. Prepare yourself for a trip back to 1985….
*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Janet,
We wait with bated breath to see the end of the book!…. It is so good to know we will have a happy ending, in spite of all that is going on….. It is true that we in North America supposedly “have it easy”, but yet, we are in a most dangerous position that Jesus mentions in Revelation 3:14-22….. We think we’re rich, but yet we’re poor and Jesus wants us to turn to Him, realizing how wretched we really are….. Here we easily fall into the temptations to depend on ourselves, instead of God.
A good web site to learn about what is going on in the rest of the world is at Voice of the Martyrs at persecution.com….. It helps us to put things into perspective while anticipating the coming of our Lord.
Love, Margaret
Margaret, it’s a dangerous position indeed. I think you described the dangers of complacency very well–it all comes back to depending on ourselves, not on God. We need to be careful. I guess that’s one of the good sides of trouble–it reminds us that God is bigger than we are.
Janet,
God created man for happy endings…that why He sent Jesus to die on our behalf so that our end would be good. As the world says….He is longsuffering and compassion…and is taking His time before His return not willing anyone to perish. He know the end will be a happy one of them that hope in Him…but He also longs that many will enter in before the trumpet is blown!
As we wait for our happy ending, let us help in gathering the harvest.
Love and blessings,
Gladwell