A Surreal Season!
When was
the last time the little weather rodent from Pennsylvania got it right? Well,
this time! Ignoring our hopes for an early Spring, Punxsutawney Phil saw his
shadow on February 2nd and predicted six more weeks of winter! I
woke up to winter this morning! Just before daybreak, I looked out my window
and saw a half-inch of blowing snow, white-out conditions with reduced
visibility, winds at 35 mph, and temperatures well below freezing!.jpeg)
Yikes! Will this ever end?
By
contrast, yesterday, we cautiously drove to church in a fierce thunderstorm of
driving rain and pea-sized hail with temperatures in the mid-fifties! By the
end of the week, the forecast is calling for temperatures of 72 degrees on
Friday and Saturday. No wonder the morning news led with a breaking story
about, “A New Round of Extreme Weather! 30 million are under a winter
alert!” For the middle of March, yes,
it’s extreme! But it also feels surreal to me. It is disorienting and
unbelievable!
One of my mentors
advised preachers to hold a newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other
when preparing their sermons. It was a way of saying that church leaders should
be informed. The weather has often been instructional to me, but there are
other things that inform us in these times as we deal with serious global tensions,
differing ideologies, and economic instabilities that threaten our peace of
mind and way of life. Like climate change, it’s like a roller coaster ride of
concerns!
Jesus
preached a prophetic sermon during the last few days leading up to his arrest, suffering,
and death on the cross. In a private session with His disciples on the Mount of
Olives, they asked Him for a sign and timetable signaling His coming again and
the end of the age. Jesus warned them about false messiahs, impending persecution,
and spiritual indifference and apostasy that would accompany the last days.
Jesus offered
clarity and assurance in this end times sharing with His closest followers, “You
will hear of wars and threats of war, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must
take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be families and earthquakes in
many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains,
with more to come.” (Matthew 24:6-8, NLT).
I’m hesitant
to read too much into a text of prophecy. The unfolding and timing of the events
of salvation history are, and have always been, still firmly fixed in God’s sovereign
plan. This mystery must be approached with humility and faith in our great God
who has numbered our days – individually and collectively. Only He knows how and
when this all will play out. It would be presumptuous for us to speculate or say
otherwise.
I am
content to keep busy doing what I can to spread the word about Christ who emphatically
said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but
through me.” (John 14:6). People need the Lord and they need to get ready for heaven
and the end of the age. The only way to be ready is to get into a saving relationship
with Jesus Christ!
Our responsibility,
as followers of Christ, is to share with family, friends, and anyone else that we
may unexpectedly engage each day, that Christ is coming again. I remember
Billy Graham preaching that he expected Jesus to come back anytime in his lifetime.
I also believe that the end times “omega point” in history is a lot closer today
than it was when Jesus predicted it on the Mount of Olives over two-thousand years ago!
It’s good to be an informed believer, but even more, let’s be in tune with what the Lord wants to do in and through us each day so that we do not forget His promise that there is “more to come!”
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com
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Amen!
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