A preacher was pacing the floor, so one of his friends asked him, \u201cWhat\u2019s the trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n
The preacher replied, \u201cThe trouble is that I am in a hurry, but God isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
How often in today\u2019s world have you just wished it would all be over and Jesus would return? Numerous prophecies of Christ\u2019s second coming in the Old Testament and scores more in the New Testament encourage us about this event. So we watch and wait.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But waiting is hard. One problem is skeptics all around us \u2014 something Peter predicted:<\/p>\n
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, \u201cWhere is this \u2018coming\u2019 he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation\u201d (2\u202fPeter 3:3, 4).<\/p>\n
On the other extreme are the misguided, inaccurate prognosticators. Televangelists and writers have made a fairly good living telling us when Jesus is going to return. Their charts and graphs and timetables make you think they know what they\u2019re talking about. But they don\u2019t! Ever since the church began, people have been setting dates.<\/p>\n
The first recorded prediction was ad 381. Then there was ad 500 and ad 1000. A friend of Martin Luther\u2019s liked the year 1533. Isaac Newton predicted ad 1715. William Miller claimed the Second Coming would occur in 1844, while Jehovah Witnesses have predicted His return several times, including in 1914. A book declared the rapture would be in 1988. When nothing happened, the year was changed to 1989. Many people prophesied the world would end in 2000, and even a movie was released foretelling the end of the world in 2012.<\/p>\n
But what did Jesus say?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains\u201d (Matthew 24:6-8).<\/p>\n
Notice Jesus said \u201cbirth pains.\u201d Women do not normally have one pain and then deliver the baby. Could it be that numerous birth pains have to take place before the end of time? We do not know the day or hour (v. 36). That\u2019s why Jesus told us not to predict but to prayerfully watch (Mark 13:33; 1\u202fPeter 4:7).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Many of us are tired of watching and waiting, caught in between the skeptics and prognosticators. Maybe we\u2019re turned off by all the false predictions. Maybe we\u2019re distracted (if not skeptical), lulled into a false sense of security despite what\u2019s going on around us. It\u2019s easy to get caught up in today\u2019s hustle and bustle. Technology, for instance, makes life so much easier and connects us with many different things, but it also can detract us from God\u2019s Word and from our ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
What is our number one goal in life while we wait for the Lord\u2019s return? Let me put that another way: What should<\/em> be our number one goal in life? It should be \u201chis kingdom and his righteousness\u201d (Matthew 6:33). Our secondary goal should be to help our family and others toward that goal.<\/p>\n That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the list. Anything else in life is just window dressing and will fall into place. It\u2019s great to have a good job, a nice home, a good car, and other things. But those earthly possessions will pass away (vv. 19-21).<\/p>\n What truly matters is being with God in His kingdom. If we\u2019re not doing things that are pleasing to our heavenly Father, we\u2019re living dangerously. Is that really what we want to do? We all make mistakes and don\u2019t do enough, but we should want to do more. We should want to get closer to God through His Son Jesus Christ, and that means watching and waiting patiently.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We live in a world that is getting more corrupt by the day, where Satan tempts us in a variety of ways. It\u2019s not easy to stay focused, to watch and wait. But we must keep our eyes on God. Anything that gets in the way of seeking Him and His kingdom has to be eliminated.<\/p>\n Jesus said it best in Luke 21:34-36:<\/p>\n \u201cBe careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s true: God isn\u2019t in a hurry (2\u202fPeter 3:8). But don\u2019t lose hope. Don\u2019t get tired of watching and waiting. Remember, Jesus is coming soon!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tom Wilkinson<\/strong> is the administrator for the CoG7 in Walla Walla, WA. Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A preacher was pacing the floor, so one of his friends asked him, \u201cWhat\u2019s the trouble?\u201d The preacher replied, \u201cThe trouble is that I am in a hurry, but God isn\u2019t.\u201d How often in today\u2019s world have you just wished it would all be over and Jesus would return? Numerous prophecies of Christ\u2019s second coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":3510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPrepared<\/h2>\n