In our resurrected and glorified bodies, we’ll enjoy an eternal maturity and wisdom that are unhindered by the disabilities that affect our joy and usefulness in this world. We will be perfectly “aged.” We’ll enjoy all the advantages of having “grown up.”
Let us not dictate to God the terms of our service to Him. He asks of us an unconditional commitment to serve under any circumstances. When our service involves difficulty, as it often will, let us endure. Even when we can’t see the end, let us still endure.
The work of the kingdom is hard work. We need to take heed how we deal with difficulty. The Lord has always been patient with those who are willing to keep trying. But those who quit trying shouldn’t expect the Lord’s praise or anybody else’s.
At judgment some will hear the words “Well done” (Matthew 25:21), while others will hear “Depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23). But remember one thing well: the inquiry will be about the role that was actually ours — not the role that was somebody else’s.
Are our memories changing us for the better? Are they making us more humble and penitent? Are we becoming more reverent and grateful? As we reflect on what has happened in our lives, are those reflections turning us into more obedient people?
I want to suggest that being awake while the world is asleep is not necessarily bad. The handful of times when I have had the deepest communion with God and the clearest insight into reality have been in the watches of the night.
Our reaching forward is not to anything in this life. What we are reaching forward to is heaven, and it simply doesn’t matter what tomorrow may bring in this world. The future will come eventually, but today is the day we must prepare for it.
To say no to God’s pardon would mean throwing away everything we were created to enjoy. It would mean losing everything “life” was ever meant to be. And far worse, it would mean losing our Creator Himself — agonizing over what we had lost forever.
God will help us, it but it is still we who will have to die. “No matter how close to yours another’s steps have grown, in the end there is one dance you’ll do alone.” So what will we do when we have to do this thing that no one can do for us?
Jesus would have dealt with the storm when the time was right; meanwhile the disciples should have hung on. So we need to learn the lesson of the tempest: we should let God decide when the situation has grown dangerous enough to warrant His action.
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