Hope (continued!)

It may seem that I’ve gone down a very negative pathway this summer. What have I been doing during the long weeks of mostly pleasant weather and the beautiful surroundings of Ham, walking the dogs, enjoying the woods with them, so peaceful and quiet you could actually be in the middle of distant countryside?!!!! Why have I seemingly steeped myself in the trauma and distress of the nations this summer?
 
One reason is because it’s hard to ignore!! But mostly because it’s all in God’s written Word. He knows. Long before today’s news headlines were printed, He knew. And He told us in advance. It’s Prophecy - as someone has said, ‘given not to scare us, but to prepare us.’ And it’s a comfort to have and know His word.
 
What are the days we are living in then? What does the Word say? Is there significance to this summer of fires, floods, earthquakes, wars and rumours of war?
 
Matthew 24 is a prophecy from Jesus given in answer to the disciples question in Matthew 24:3 - “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” His answer is Matthew 24:3-8 - scary, but add in pestilence (pandemic) and it’s our list. Jesus calls it “The beginning of sorrows.”
 
Are these the days we are living in then? Is His return near? Could we actually be living on the pages of the Bible - headlines in one hand, Bible in the other! The generation that will see the prophecies played out to the end. I think we may well be.
 
We may not know the hour of His coming - Matthew 24:36. Only the Father knows. But Jesus tells us the signs, so we might read them. He said He is “going to prepare a place for us” (John 14:2-3). When He’s ready He’ll come and get us. He told so many parables to illustrate the master going away and delaying His return - the servant who stopped believing, the bridesmaids who ran out of oil, the wedding invite but not dressed properly.
 
Every generation, since the moment Jesus left for Heaven, has looked for His coming. We’re meant to. Paul calls it “Our blessed HOPE” (Titus 2:13).
 
2 Peter 3:3-4 tells us people will mock this HOPE because so long has gone by - but verse 9 says He delays, “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
 
The Word has so much else to tell us - there’s more about His second coming than there is about His first. Remember, it’s to prepare us, not to scare us.
 
One last thing to share … I know this is really bad, but if I’m reading a good book I do love to turn the pages and see how it finishes. Is it worth going on?! Read the end and see if it measures up!
 
The book of Revelation definitely does well when I do that. The ending is amazing. Not everyone wants to delve deeply into all the depths and breadths of the prophetic scriptures!!! But we can all know how it ends and read the last chapter - Revelation 22. Amazing.
 
Maybe Revelation 21:1-5 too, where God says “At last, the home of God is with man”. You can feel the heartbeat of God in this. He lost us to sin in Genesis 3:9 and we hear His heart-breaking cry of “Adam, where are you?” It’s all been about getting us back. How He loves us, has redeemed us at great cost. God’s own Son took our punishment and paid the price. The Scriptures span the whole story from beginning to end.
 
How important it is to know that with everything the way it is these days and with all that may be ahead, He’s got both history and us in His hands. Our Great Saviour and Lord. As CS Lewis puts it in Narnia - “Wrongs will be right when Aslan comes.” Revelation 1:8 tells us that Jesus was there from the foundation of the world and is truly the one to trust. He is our HOPE. He will make it right. Justice, peace, tears wiped away …
 
“HOPE deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is A TREE OF LIFE” (Proverbs 13:12)

“May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace“ (Romans 15:13)
 
There is nothing more important than knowing this true HOPE, responding to Him ourselves and sharing the message with all we can. “God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever would believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life … He that believes in the Son has life and he who does not believe the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:16,35)