Comfort one another with these words

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:18

Sometimes I just wonder why the Lord keeps us waiting for the rapture. I know, its strange to be thinking this ‘out of the blue’ but with Belinda and I it is almost a constant. We talk about it often, encourage each other with the hope and in times of trials comfort one another in remembrance. Isn’t that the instruction of 1 Thess. 4:18?

Yet, in the world and even in many churches there seems to be an ever increasing luke-warmness. A mixture of Christian and worldly beliefs and morality as found in Revelation 3:16, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth”. There is a watering down of the Good News of Jesus Christ, a lack of teaching on prophecy, and a lack of warning to the children of God. I wonder, where are the watchmen on the wall?

Where is the burning fire within that prompts us to leave our comfort zones and strikeout preaching and teaching the truths of the Bible? Where’s the anticipation of Christ’s coming? Where’s the righteous moveon.org movement that keeps us walking towards the promised land instead of wilting in the barren desert?

God’s prophetic timing provides mercy to those who yet do not know him. To those who have not tasted that the Lord is good, Psalm 34:8. It is the Lord’s goodness and desire that all be saved, that all come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9.

The clock is ticking down until the moment when his people will be caught away, when the rapture will occur. Then, we will “ever be with the Lord” 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Until that time should we not burn brightly for our Lord and Savior? Should we not live righteously in an unrighteous world?

In a time when hearts are failing for fear Luke 21:26, may our Lord give his men and women the grace, the boldness, and a heart of mercy to speak the Good News to a generation who does not know the Lord, does not know righteousness.

Chipmunk Fear

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

Ever been scared? I mean really scared, even to wits end?

One night during our camping trip it rained and the wind blew like crazy. It rained so hard you could hardly hear yourself think until finally only a ‘patter’ of rain came mixed with ere silence. Inside our tent all was pitch black, black enough to be kind of spooky. Then the rain and the wind hit again, this time more fiercely, blowing like a Rocky Mountain hurricane… all seemingly directed at our little peaceful and fragile tent.

I couldn’t sleep out of sheer excitement. The day had been beautiful and my time with Belinda, simply the best! At the same time I lay there thanking God for his countless blessings. Although not every thing was going all that great with my job situation at the same time there simply was too much to not be grateful for. The camping trip was like a vacation and a semi honeymoon all in one package and for it I couldn’t thank the Lord more.

The rain and the wind worried me some as well; I mean we were sleeping in a flimsy tent and outside a Noah type rain was occurring! I was a little on edge. The rain died down but outside I began hearing a scratching noise and then I heard some metal object topple over. Then it happened again, but this time closer, just outside the confines of our tent wall. My mind raced to the earlier report of a bear being in our vicinity, a bear large enough to move the trash dumpsters down at the base of our hill.

Well, I was instantly wide awake! My praying had stopped (just when I needed to be praying) and my mind instantly searched for some kind of weapon. So, I grabbed the axe next to our inflatable mattress and I waited. I learned right then and there that I’m no courageous Daniel in the Lion’s den. With scratching going on outside and darkness around me I waited. I just knew that some mauling, black, menacing monster was about to appear. I waited. The scratching noise had stopped and ever slowly I relaxed some. I awoke the next morning.

With the sunrise breaking I unzipped the tent door flap to see for myself the track of a bear that I just knew would be there planted in the mud. Only I found several chipmunk tracks and an overturned soda can. “You city boy”, I thought and went back to bed, laughing at myself.

Isn’t it true that we worry about the smallest of things? Sometimes we make a chipmunk out to be a bear when the Lord wants us to rest easy in his peace. Sometimes we can’t see beyond the walls of our world and yet we worry about something that we’ve made a lot bigger than what is actually is. How many chipmunks scare us when actually God has everything under control? God is bigger than a chipmunk or even the bears that come into our life.

Camping

By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. Romans 1:20 (The Message)

Camping. I never knew that it could bring so much enjoyment, peace, and comfort to heart, mind, and spirit. And camping we did and a whole week of it!

What a blessing also… as many of you know this summers camping was our first in our near twenty years of marriage. It wasn’t that we did not want to go but mostly we felt we couldn’t. Either Belinda underwent a major surgery or the military deployed me or something else was pressing. So for me to sit back and watch my wife soak in a little nature, listen as she laughed, and as I playfully frowned as she beat me in another Rummecube game was for me the deepest of treasured blessings.

Now granted, setting up the tent and everything else was not all that joyous an occasion but afterwards what a blast! To sit and watch the trees gracefully sway in the breeze and hear the wind whisper in the pines… wow, that was relaxing.

At dusk we built a campfire and listened to the ‘pop’ and the ‘crackle’ as the wood burned and warmed ourselves. The stars came out and glistened in the quiet darkness and time did not seem so pressing or to matter all that much. Capturing and sharing the moment with the love of your life, now that mattered!

Have you taken the time to look up at night and just look at the stars? How long has it been?

As I gazed upward I wondered at the awesomeness of God. His great and inspiring creation hovered above us and reminded me of how wonderful, powerful, and great God truly is.

He created all that is around us. All the beauty of nature, all the stars in the heaven, and all the wonderful people in our lives. We are blessed, truly blessed for his goodness!