After a year like 2020, we’re all looking ahead. There are memes flying around the internet and social media: “wake me up when this nightmare ends” to the tune of a Green Day hit, gift-wrapped 2021 calendars, and too many cheesy jokes about hindsight being 2020 are just a few.
With disaster after disaster befalling us in 2020, it can be difficult to be present in all this misery. It can be difficult to keep working, maintain relationships, clean up our community parks, and educate our kids when it seems the world is ending. When we’re all at such unrest, how can we rest in the present mess that we’re in?
If you’re having trouble embracing 2020, there is hope today. There is space to bloom right here where you’re planted.
I love the old hymn that goes, “We have this hope that burns within our hearts, Hope in the coming of the Lord. We have this faith that Christ alone imparts, Faith in the promise of His Word…”
I liken this hope to a coming wedding. The bride-to-be is usually stressed as she plans for the big day. The groom is usually stressed at the prospect of supporting the wife-to-be. Things may come up during the planning stages of a wedding that seem like they’re world-ending. A deposit may be lost, a pandemic may shorten your guest list by 90 percent, the maid of honor may have a beef with the best man, the minister may fall ill. There are so many little details that may go wrong leading up to a wedding, but the hope of the beautiful day and the marriage to follow is what keeps the whole train moving.
The hope we have in the coming of the Lord and the faith in the promise of His Word is what keeps us moving through 2020 and whatever else may come at us.
You are not just a person. You do not struggle on your own. You are part of the Church of God, part of His body. You are the promised bride of Christ. Whatever befalls us on earth this year or in the next, we have this hope: hope in the coming of the Lord!
We look forward to the coming of Jesus as if it’s the end, finally an end to all this misery on earth (and it is). It’s also a beautiful beginning–the most handsome bridegroom, the most exquisite bride, the best day in history.
God’s church, called ekklesia in the Bible, means ‘called-out ones’.
Are you being called?
As struggles mount and stress cripples you, are you being called out of the misery?
Maybe you’ve turned away from God because He hasn’t solved all of your problems. Maybe you had problems before 2020. You had a rocky marriage. Your kids messed up. Your financial load verged on criminal. You turned away from God out of spite, but you’re still in the midst of life’s struggles and now you feel alone.
Christ’s return is coming.
God is calling you out of all your struggles to come to His side.
When you’re married to the love of your life, life’s struggles don’t stop, but it is easier to bare them.
You can be a part of God’s Church. It’s not complicated. It’s not painful. On the contrary, it’s everything you’ve never imagined and more.
You can find out more about God’s promises and find peace in 2020, 2021, and whatever else may come.
Choose from some of my favorite resources below and get started now:
It is Written: Can God Be Trusted?
Adventist World Radio: Unlocking Bible Prophecies
You can find more resources here.
