Thinking about the End

I had another "A-Ha Moment" in church today. Thank you, Jon Ritner. I don't know why I ever thought about things this way before.

This past week was one I don't want repeated in the near future. So much pain. So much sorrow. So much fear. It was one of those weeks when I couldn't let myself stop and think about everything going on around me because when I did, I felt physically ill. That hasn't happened to me since April 2007.

And so I sat in church this morning trying not to think, trying to enjoy the fellowship and sing His praise without involving my heart because right now it just hurts too much.

Then came words of life and hope in the form of the eighth point of my church's statement of faith. "We Believe in the bodily Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to claim His own people and to set all things in order."

1 Peter 4:7 "The end of all things is near..."

I've never considered the Day of the Lord to be one to look forward to. I guess I should have, knowing that when He comes, He will claim me as His own, but instead I've always simply focused on that Day as the Day of the Lord's wrath. I looked to the End with fear and dread.

But that was never how the Lord intended for His children to face His coming, especially when we know we are His.

The End means the end of all the things that are wrong with this world. Only the good will remain. He will make ALL THINGS right.

That means no more pain. No more sorrow. No more grief. No more fear. No more inexplicable tragedy, loneliness, or betrayal.

All of it. Gone. Forever.

"Therefore encourage each other with these words."