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.
The question is not at what point we are satisfied, but at what point God is satisfied. And He will not be satisfied until we have been returned to the perfectly glorious image of holiness that He had in mind when He created us.
The trumpet-blast of the Lord’s return will arouse us to a life that will be life indeed. If we are found in Christ, the thunderous voice of the archangel will open our eyes to the real life we were created to enjoy, and we will enjoy it forever.
The Lord’s first appearing occurred “when the fullness of the time had come,” and His final appearing will also be timed perfectly. Meanwhile, we can wait in faith and hope and love. We can be faithful in His work, ready and waiting to see His face.
When we see life’s sun setting and we know our time is running out, we tend to see what’s important more clearly. But in truth, we don’t have to wait until old age or a dire doctor’s report. We can concentrate on what’s most important right now.
We should not miss the opportunities presented by our problems. It’s good to have the courage to face our difficulties, but we can do better than just be courageous. We can see in our difficulties the productive possibilities that they offer to us.
Truth is what we’ll be tested by. Death will strip us of every advantage we’ve ever gained by sidestepping the truth. So, my friend, is there anything about you that is going to last? Time will surely tell. “Death cancels everything but truth.”
While life under the sun lasts, we had better be thinking about life beyond the sun. Death is coming, and we need to ask whether we’re doing anything that won’t be erased by that event. Only one such thing is available to us, and that is godliness.
Short of heaven, I don’t want to hear the Lord say, “You have your reward.” I don’t want anything in this world — or all of it put together. What I want can’t be had in this world, and that’s a sinless, eternal relationship with my God in heaven.
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