The King & His Welcoming Party

            The King is returning.  Routine and the fleeting work like heavy mist upon the earth, concealing what is beyond and big.  The infinitesimal has grown vast in deceived minds, prompting our fixation with personal goals that sway on crumbling foundation.  As stable as ashes in wind are human agendas, where a mirror’s view holds the height of complexity and importance.  All the while the King’s return is coming, its time not hinging upon the current state of human priority.

            The Christian’s state of mind is often snared in this foothold of personal agenda, by means of our own image among fellow believers.  Our ongoing toil to be considered “godly” by a believing home base becomes addictive upon success, but counterproductive – it bears no difference to a non-believing preoccupation with fleeting goals inconsiderate to God.  Such a philosophy is self-promoting, one belonging to the world of the dying away.  Building on a stock of memorized scripture and kind deeds does no good for a heart seeking glory for itself.  All the while the King’s return is coming, its time not hinging upon whether we are lifted to the pedestal of our peers. 

           

          

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” – Matthew 24:44 (ESV). 

          “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming” – 1 John 2:28 (ESV).

            A social gathering of great magnitude knows its importance only from what has been done to carry it out, and from the number of people in knowledge of its approaching.  What has been done to carry out Christ’s return is the sacrifice of His life in the place of sinners, His resurrection, and ascension; but, dissimilar to social gatherings is the reality that many carry on unprepared for His return, and it doesn’t delay His coming.  The postponement of social gatherings on grounds of being ill prepared or lack of attendance is commonplace, but the King’s return knows no postponement or eligible excuse for the unready.

            Any entranced with the world of the dying away will be exposed as ash beneath the light of the returning King, hearts choked by restraints of the fleeting will be revealed.  Until the day, then, through Him may we rejoice where there is sorrow, forgive where there is bitterness, impart peace where there is restlessness, give where there is greed, comfort where there is fear, and love where there is hatred.  The King’s return is coming; let us be found at His feet already.  It does not hinge on whether we are awake or asleep.

Grace & Peace,

J. S. Wade

             

Truth & Lies Of Being Comfortable

            Comfort is warm.  Fear’s grip is loosened and all appears right with God and people.  The world isn’t as dangerous and the Lord is who He says He is.  Though, just as well, all seems right to a man who has just enjoyed a meal, not knowing he has been poisoned.  In itself comfort is a heavenly gift, but is stained by the human condition, corrupted into an addictive, binding, and inhibitory substance.

            In the hands of Christ, comfort gives life and strengthens heart in trouble and suffering.  Explained distinctly in the fourth verse of the 23^rd Psalm, among more well-known passages of scripture, it says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (ESV). 

Most good things, however, when taken into our own human hands, are tainted – we worship that which is unworthy of praise, and make gods for ourselves out of things that cannot save us.  The real truth of comfort in God strengthens us despite the fact that we are enduring “uncomfortable” times, but the worship of comfort attempts to confine Him to personal agenda. 

A personal agenda of comfort calls for the minor induction of anxiety as an unnecessary experience, and any lack of affirmation as unwelcome.  Whether or not we are “feeling it” is the unwavering, stone-set, judge of worthy opportunities; it rejects mustard seed upon mustard seed merely because planting them requires a step outside the realm of self-pampering.  Incidentally, comfort made a fool out of me – years ago I was told a lie that I would be happy in my own faith, in my own life, and in my own comfort.  In time, buying into it uncovered misery – a fear of being uncomfortable had formed inside of me, a poison for the soul that desires to live for God.

In John 16:33, Jesus promises that being uncomfortable is an experience we will face: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world” (NIV).

Hiding from being uncomfortable, therefore, is not comfort.  It is a lie from which nothing of meaning is gained; a parasite that feeds on a believer’s effectiveness.  True comfort is never known without trouble, distress, or suffering – through the example of the cross, this is clear.

Grace & Peace,

J. S. Wade