The End of the Book!

"God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”

2 Thessalonians 1:6-7

Hurricane Katrina was a disaster not only because of the wind and floods, but also because of the slow response to the tragedy. We all watched on television while hundreds of thousands of people waited for the help that never seemed to come. Katrina re-wrote the book on how our government should respond to a natural disaster.

It is difficult to be patient while waiting for relief if we are wet, or cold and hungry. It is even harder if we are sick or injured. I know that my fuse becomes very short when my comfort level is seriously eroded. That is why we have rescue squads on call 24-7 and why we all get out of the way when we see the lights and hear the siren.

But what about the relief that comes from God Himself? Of course God has the supply of everything we could ever need. There is not a tragedy that God can’t fix! But the Bible says that the relief that comes from Him will happen “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”

Pardon me if I don’t sound very spiritual when I say that that makes the Katrina response sound wonderful. God will bring relief when Jesus returns, but what about now? Of course God does bring relief every day, but sometimes the relief that comes from Him will only come with the return of Jesus.

Here is how I make sense of it. When the Katrina victims waited for relief, often sitting on the roofs of their houses, they did not know whether or not they would really be rescued. As I wait for relief from God I have His promise and know for certain that I will be rescued. His relief will come and I will receive it! As I wait for the rescue, the knowledge that the end of my story will not be tragic is a comfort that keeps me going every day.

A dear friend told me years ago, “I have read the end of the Book and we win!”