![]() ![]() The world that we are living in now is fraught with fear and anxiety, especially for teenagers. I can live with confidence, knowing that whatever is coming, God has already planned it out and it is good. If I truly believe that He loves me and cares for me, I don’t have to be afraid of the future. Only my Creator, who loves me enough to send His Son to die on the cross for my sins, doubts, and fears, determines the course of my life. What I must come to realize is that I have no say over my own fate. There are parts of Revelation that frighten, but at the same time there are wonderful promises. Even John, in Revelation 10:9, was told to “Take and eat the Word it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” The message of God can be bittersweet. What brings me comfort and hope is knowing that others have felt this way. Sometimes, though, it seems that God’s will is harsh and brutal. What He wills will come to pass regardless of my feelings and what I want. My life is simply a mist, here one minute and gone the next. At the end of the day, I am not the one in control, God is. James reinforces the idea that we shouldn’t rely on our own plans but rather trust in the Lord and His will. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’.” What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James 4:14-15 says this: “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. I almost feel like asking God if He could hold off of sending Jesus back so that I can live my life and do all of these things I dream of doing and die a peaceful death. The things I hold dear can and do cause me to wish He would not come back sooner. Out of all my hopes and dreams, am I willing to give them up for Christ? Am I willing to give up my family, my football, my weightlifting, everything that I hold dear? Are these hindering me from coming to Christ and putting all of my faith and trust in Him? If I were to say these things to Jesus, what would He say to me? The same thing that He said to the rich young ruler?(Mark 10:17-27)Īs an American, I have a lot of barriers when it comes to having communion with Christ. Spiritually speaking, I am like the rich young ruler in Mark’s Gospel. This might be one of the downsides of living in America where I am free to practice Christianity, free to avoid persecution and anything that makes me uncomfortable. Even my worst days do not compare to being at risk of execution simply because I profess Christ. When I read about the persecution that early Christians suffered, it makes sense as to why they would be begging for Jesus to come back, why they could not wait for the end to come, for Jesus to return and make all things new.īut I am spoiled rotten. When I have shared these burdens with people I trust, they remind me of people in other parts of the world, whose families are buried alive because of their faith, who wish the end would come sooner than later. I also think that many of these feelings are a result of being born in America. ![]() ![]() Thinking about the possibility of these things ending in an instant makes me sad. I want to continue to live and enjoy life on this earth. I want to hunt with my family, catch fish on the banks of Roaring River, watch the Chiefs win more Super Bowls, lift more weights, and get into better shape. I want to spend more time with my wife and dogs. I want to have children, experience life through their eyes and watch them grow, and someday have grandchildren to love and spoil. I want to travel and see the wonders of God’s creation. Selfishly, I consider how much I want to do and experience here on this earth. The thought of the world as we know it changing makes my stomach churn. Even though there is some idea of what is to come, my human, earthly mind cannot come close to understanding what that will be like. On the one hand, this world, these people, are all that I know. I think that this is true for several reasons. Despite my studies on the glorious things to come and despite the fact that I will be in a New Heaven and New Earth (one that puts this earth to infinite shame) with my Creator for eternity, there is a large part of me that does not want this one to end. If I am being incredibly honest with myself and others, I don’t want the world to end. Reading about the judgements, the bowls, the plagues, the terror, and destruction that is going to happen is frightening. These events have crystallized a thought that I have often had: what the future holds is terrifying. Studying and teaching Revelation during a global pandemic, an election year, civil unrest, wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes is a surreal experience. ![]()
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