For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
Whenever our family is expecting company, the main front door to our house remains open, allowing the storm door window to provide a clear view of someone’s arrival. This has been our practice for almost a decade and a half, and it has a two-fold purpose: First, we want to be able to look out at a glance and see when our anticipated guests have arrived, and second, we want them to feel the welcome of our home the moment they drive up, seeing that the door is open, ready for their entrance.
There have been many occasions that I have stood at that storm door, looking, watching, waiting for various relatives and friends to bless us with their presence. Sometimes I’m standing there awaiting dinner guests as the aroma of my spouse’s culinary artistry wafts over our home. Other times I’ve been glancing towards the road as Christmas lights twinkle on our tree and the December stars dance in the sky. There have been dozens of times that I’ve stood by that open door, thrilled at the hope of imminent arrivals.
There is something exciting about the anticipation of pending company’s arrival. The date has been set, the hour has been decided, the preparations have been made, and soon you’ll be together, enjoying each other’s presence for dinner, for the night, for the weekend, or perhaps longer. We all can probably relate to that feeling physically speaking, but how about spiritually speaking?
Is your front door open, waiting for the imminent arrival of the King? Do you live in daily anticipation of Christ’s return? Are you thrilled at the hope of spending eternity with Him forever in heaven, at the place He’s preparing for you? Does that sound more like a fairy tale than a reality to you? I hope not, because Jesus is coming back, you can count on it! In Jesus’ very own words we’re given the promise: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14:1-3)
Jesus has promised to return, to “come and get us” when everything is ready. We can confidently expect and have faith that He will return. We can believe and place our hope in that truth without doubt or speculation. We do not know how long it will be before He arrives, but we can rest assured that He’s coming back! He said He would, so He will!
I remember as a young child leaving our home in Ohio to travel to a revival meeting in Kentucky that our pastor was conducting. Our pastor and his family had gone on ahead to prepare for the meetings and our family was coming along later to support him during the event. Though Ohio and Kentucky aren’t geographically that distant, to a child, it seemed as though we’d been in the car for days by the time we reached the state line. And to make matters worse, the church where the revival was being conducted was not on the beaten path. It was way up in the hill country of Kentucky and getting there was almost better achieved by pack mule rather than automobile. Leaving the main interstate and paved roads slowed our travel, and as the sun continued its journey across the sky, the hour for the revival meeting was rapidly approaching and we still weren’t there yet. My Dad was watching the road snaking in front of him while intermittently casting a nervous look at the clock too. Would we make it in time?
After a long and nerve-wracking odyssey, we finally crested a hill and saw the little country church sitting down below in a valley on the opposite side of a mountain stream. There was a small crowd of worshippers gathered outside, getting ready to enter the building for the service and my Dad recognized one of the group members as our pastor. My Dad brought the car to a stop and rolled down the window to shout out across the canyon, “Rev. Beattie, don’t start without us! I told you we’d be there for the service, and I’m a man of my word. We drove all the way here to worship with you, so hang on a few more minutes and we’ll be down there to join you.” Of course they waited, delighted to see we’d made it, and that story has been a part of my family’s lore for generations now. We drove our car through the stream, parked it with the others, and had a memorable time with the Lord and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ there in the Bluegrass State.
I learned from that experience that my Dad was a man of his word. Distance, time, expense, none of those were going to prevent my dad from keeping his promise. And if he can be trusted to keep his promises, then why should I expect anything less from Almighty God? I believe that Jesus is preparing a place for me in heaven, a place where I will be with him for all of eternity. I put my hope in that promise, and I, in fact, base my entire life on it. Everything I am and stand for revolves around that hope. My King is coming back to get me someday and I want to be standing at the front door with a big smile on my face ready to embrace Him upon His arrival. I hope you do too!