Matthew 24:36
But no one knows the date and hour when the end will be—not even the angels. No, nor even God’s Son. Only the Father knows.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
This morning, a photo
memory of my niece and her three children, taken at a birthday/Mother’s
Day celebration party two years ago, appeared on my Facebook wall. The
children were just turning 5, 3, and 2. Also appearing this morning was
a post from a friend I taught kindergarten with “many moons ago.”
Today, her son is 36. I remember vividly the day he was born – Mother’s
Day 1980. A lot has happened in thirty-six years…and day for day, a
lot has happened in just the last two!
As I thought about these
events, I was reminded that we could not have predicted much of what
happened. Two years ago, I would never have dreamed that vital, healthy
people we loved would no longer be with us. We could not have
predicted the births of new family members, the achievements and
accomplishments of others, job changes for some, new homes for others,
and a myriad of other life events. There is so much about daily living
that is unpredictable…there are so many things for which we cannot
possibly plan.
And yet, God knows them all. He knows what will
happen…and when. God knows how things will “play out” in our lives…and
how we will react to them. And for every event and possibility we are
able to imagine, God knows dozens more that we never thought of – or
could not envision. He sees the big picture where we see only a small
window of what will take place.
So we cannot possibly know when
Jesus will return…or whether we will still be here. We don’t know the
hour and date of our death…and I am pretty sure we wouldn’t want to
know. But this “unknown” does come with some responsibilities. We must
be ready – for anything. How can you be ready for sudden death or the
loss of a loved one? How can you be ready for job loss, the
disintegration of a relationship, a major disappointment of some sort…or
even a great surprise or blessing? The short answer is, “You can’t!”
But we can
live with expectation, faith and hope. We can wake up every day and
say, “I don’t know what You have planned for me today, Lord, but I know
that you will equip me to handle it.” We can get up with a sense of
obligation to represent Jesus and His teachings to the best of our
ability – with the help of the Holy Spirit. And we can trust that
whatever happens beyond this will be manipulated by God for His
purposes.
God is more than able to “make lemons out of
lemonade.” He can take our joys and triumphs…our sorrows and
heartaches…the good, the bad, and the ugly…and turn it into something
beautiful for His glory. Our job is to trust Him to do this…and live
with hope and confidence in every circumstance that each day brings.
How are you doing so far?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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