112 - Watching and Waiting

<p>I’ve lived through seasons in which people were absolutely sure that Jesus was coming back any day. It was very exciting and, for some, particularly the young, very disturbing. Any thought of planning for the future went out the window because, after all, what was the use? The end of history, as we knew it, was at hand. It stirred evangelism and put the fear of God in some whose moral life had declined. No one wanted to be caught in a bad situation when Jesus returned.</p> <p>I’ve also lived through seasons in which believers were not confident that Jesus was going to return soon. We watched the news headlines for signs to determine where we were in God’s prophetic timetable, and it seemed that most of the signs we saw were bad. The world seemed to be headed into its “last days” and we tried to decipher who the antichrist was. So much debate arose over the interpretation of certain passages of Scripture that many people were left feeling unsure of where we were in God’s plan, and that ambiguity seemed to reduce the fear of God in some. Jesus’ coming felt too distant to worry about.</p> <p>It seems that we vacillate. Sometimes we’re waiting for Him to arrive at any moment, and sometimes we’re watching for prophetic signs and don’t expect Him in our lifetime. And the uncertainty of it all makes us want to ask: Does it really matter? Why don’t we simply leave that topic to the Bible scholars and trust that Jesus will come when He wants to? But it does matter. As we’ll see today the Lord wants us to live with an attitude of expectation as well as an attitude of endurance. You and I need the hope of Jesus’ soon return burning in our hearts. We need to feel the shortness of time. We need to be driven by an urgency that we must do what we can to serve Him while we can. Yet that attitude of high expectation must be tempered with a patient confidence that God is in control of the seasons of human history, and that His prophets have told us this and shown us what to watch for as the end draws near. Too much expectation