When is He going to come again?
February 8, 2008 — awford“When is He going to come again?”
This is the question my six year old daughter (Abby) asked me. She followed almost immediately: “Nobody knows” with a mixed tone of contentment and impatience. These words are not just the theological musings of a little girl, but are born in grief. “He” is Jesus, and her question about His return are rooted in the sorrow we have because my wife’s mother went to be with God on August 20, 2007.
It was one of those grieving moments that so many go through day after day: Abby and I sat together with watery eyes and heavy hearts as we watched a DVD with pictures and memories and music all put together by uncle Curt. Every time we watch it we remember the way she lived, we grieve her absence, and we look forward to the return of Jesus. Abby asks the question our family now asks with new intensity. These moments of grief for my wife and family are a shadow of the grief Jill’s father (Jim) experiencs day in and day out.
But one thing is certain - even in the midst of our very real grief - we grieve with hope. 1 Thessalonians 4 encourages us all.
13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
We don’t know when He’s going to come, but we do know He is going to come. And so we don’t ask if Jesus is going to come again, we ask when. And this is what brings us comfort and hope: we believe that Jesus died and rose again and we trust that the Lord himself will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first.
We pray that you along with us will find hope in return of Christ. May God give us grace until then.
February 10, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Praise God, in the midst of such sorrrow there is great hope. We do serve a risen Saviour, He will come back and get us. Meanwhile let’s be about doing the work that will count for eternity. As I heard a pastor say today at the end of the service ” now let’s go out and give’em Heaven.”