Third Week of Advent, Day Five

These are Uncertain Times. More to Come...

Week 3 Day 5: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3; 15-17

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (ESV)

We live in uncertain times. If we read those words now or 10 years from now or 50 years from now, the words would remain true. Life on this planet is uncertain. Conflict is continuous. In over 6000 years of recorded history, only five percent of those years have been peaceful. That’s only 300 years of peace. The other 5700 plus years have seen conflict somewhere in the world.

Fortunately, this life is not an end in itself. Our mission is not to make the earth a better place for Christians to live. Our mission is to share the Good News and offer God’s grace to a lost and hurting world, while we still have time.

No one really knows how the Last Days will play out or when they will be. In fact, all we really need to understand about the End Times is that Christ will return and His side will win.

In the meantime, God will give us “eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” When everything around us feels shaky and insecure, we can depend on the One who lasts forever.

What are you feeling uncertain about today? Maybe God is using this to help you transfer your trust to Him. Take a few moments to remind yourself of God’s love for you. He is by your side.


© Copyright 2009 Allen White

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, Wheaton: Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.