PATIENCE AND THE END OF THE WORLD

May 31st could have been “it.”  I remember going to the gym midday, which is a favorite activity on the Fridays I don’t spend in the office.  I was doing cardio, so I plugged in my earbuds and tuned to the news.  I heard the newscaster say that there was a huge asteroid in the vicinity of earth.  There was a slim chance it would enter earth’s atmosphere, and an even smaller chance it would land on earth. If it did it would destroy everything within 200 miles, severely damage everything within 1000 miles, and the dust cloud emanating from such a collision would block the sun from the earth for a time sufficient enough for everything and everyone else to die. And, have a great day!

Several things came to mind as I was listening to this.  First of all, to actually hear news people saying this, and not some kooks on a late night radio show, was surreal.  Then I wondered about how real the threat could be if the powers that be allowed this to be on national news.  Would there be widespread panic if the public knew how close we are to the end of the world, really? And I thought of my Dad.  Dad believed in the biblical teaching of Christ’s return: that He could come back at any moment, and that when He returned, He would gather all true believers to Himself and judge the world in a period of time often referred to as “the Tribulation.”  Following this time of judgment and cleansing, Christ would set up His thousand year reign on the earth, which will be a prelude to the new heaven and earth spoken of in Revelation. My Dad and many Christians in his generation lived in expectation that the day of Christ’s return would be any day. I hated that kind of talk.

I didn’t want Jesus to come back! I wanted to go to high school, then I wanted to go to college, then get married, then have children.  Funny, now that I have children I’d be happy for Jesus to return any day... today would be the best day!

Here’s the tragedy... I wanted all these experiences before Jesus returned... Wouldn’t it have been better for me to have said something like...

I didn’t want Jesus to come back! I was praying for some family members to come back to Him before His return.  I was sharing my faith with a few friends that never knew the Lord.  I was looking for ways to serve Him overseas.  Yes, that would be better - if it were true.

So, here I was on the treadmill realizing that there was enough probability that the world could end in a few hours that it was legitimate national news.  I began thinking of this Scripture:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

There is one explanation for the end of the world not happening on May 31 or any other day it does not happen: the patience of God.  His purpose is to bring us and anyone else who will call on Him into His kingdom.  His plan is to use anything He can to wake us up and realize that we need Him.

And why does He put up with a humanity that constantly shakes its fist at Him, scorns His grace and rejects His Son?  He is patient, that’s why - He is fixed on His purpose and plan which is ruled by His love... for...you.

I don’t often think of patience in this way.  I think of patience as something I have to conjure up while I’m waiting for that last bit of makeup to be applied before leaving for that commitment for which we are already late.  I feel the need to be patient when I’m waiting for a task to be done after asking five times - in plain English - that it be done.  I feel gratitude when others are patient with me when I don’t understand things the first time I hear them. But I don’t often consider that patience is a character trait of God Himself... as such, as I grow in Him, I can rest assured that patience will grow in me.

Even though I know that patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit, I often joke that I don’t believe in praying for patience because I have always disliked the means by which that prayer has been answered in my life.  God doesn’t have to develop patience like I do - His is perfect - but as I consider what makes me impatient compared to the exponentially more egregious things that might test His patience (if His patience can be tested), it makes me stand in awe of Him.

And, even though I’m not praying for patience, perhaps I should begin to pray that my reasons for gratitude for His patience line up with His purposes and plans, and not my own.  May I get off the treadmill and onto the trail that is leading me and all of us toward wholeness in Him.  Praise God for patience!

Joy, Anyone?

April often brings welcome springtime rain here in the central valley of California. Nearly every time I hear rain fall, I think of a song from a record (a vinyl record!) that my parents played for me when I was little.  It was an album recorded by the “Medical Mission Sisters” – I think that music from nuns was welcomed in our very Protestant home due to the popularity of The Sound of Music, but I digress.  The song is called “Joy Is Like The Rain.” 

Joy for Christians, like rain in the central valley, can be elusive. Joy is often confused with happiness, and yet in drawing the distinction between happiness, which is emotional, and joy, which is a gift from God, we tend to make a false promise that we will always have joy.  This presents a problem when, for instance, we sense the deep sorrow of grief in which there is no joy.  Joy is independent of our feelings, yet we feel it:  deeply satisfying, full of praise and energy, even euphoric. How can we experience more joy in our lives? 

Joy is linked closely to worship.  In Psalm 33:3 we read, “Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.” (NASB)  In Colossians 3:16 we read that we should sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts.  Gratitude cultivates joy in the heart; so worship, when focused on God and His desires can bring joy to our spirits.

Joy comes after adversity.  One of the lines in the Sisters’ song is “joy is tried by storm.”  In Psalm 30:5 we read, “Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning.” (NLT)  The psalmist expressed joy after victory was won (Psalm 27:6), and all through the Scriptures we see joy expressed in the midst of trials.  In 2 Corinthians 7:4 Paul says, “I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction”, and James invites us to consider our trials as pure joy.  Joy is a choice that we must make, even though we might not experience it at the time.

 And here’s a tough one! Jesus told us to be joyful if people mock, deride, criticize, and even act violently against us for His sake:  “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.” (Luke 6:22-23, NIV)

Joy comes from the Holy Spirit.  It’s listed as the second “fruit” of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.  So, if we’re rooted in the Spirit through the Word and prayer, we can expect that joy will be borne in our lives. Joy can be triggered by praise and dampened by self-absorption, pursuit of creature comforts, and traditionalism, among other things.

But joy – pure joy – is known in its fullness in God’s presence.  In Psalm 16:11 the psalmist writes, “You will make known to me the path of life ; In Your presence is fullness of joy ; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (NASB)  I hope that as you come before the Lord in worship, and as you worship through your daily life, you will pursue His presence, for that is the surest way I know to experience joy.  May He fill you with joy as you earnestly seek Him.