By: Breanna Gile, Children’s Pastor at Terre Haute First
Mom and Dad are in a hospital room, holding their infant child in their arms for the first time. They are awestruck by the tiny little features: the soft peach-fuzz hair, the tiny furrowed brows, that perfect button nose, running their thumbs over tiny knuckles, and listening to the satisfied grunts of a babe with a full belly.
Could anything be more perfect than those moments of sweet adoration? The baby is safe in the arms of her parents–arms that, while so tender in this moment, in another could fiercely defend that which is held most dear. Innocence, tenderness, and strength–all intertwined in this hospital room. Time could just stand still.
But it doesn’t.
If you’re a parent of older kids, you’ve experienced this sensation. One minute you are holding your infant child and in the next moment you have teenagers who test every ounce of grace and patience you have.
No longer the patient and content infants you once held, instead, your teenage kids, seem to struggle with seasons of “not yet” and are always looking ahead to the next milestone: dating, later curfew, driving a car, and moving out.
Even though you, as a parent, know what’s best for them, but they’re not always eager to listen. They do not enjoy waiting for your “yes” and certainly aren’t thinking about preparing themselves for the future. For these teens, time seems to be at a standstill.
But not for you.
For you, it seems like you just blinked in the hospital room and here you are now, arguing about crop tops and pants with holes.
Time is a funny thing. We can only really grasp it from our own perspective. We may try to recall our own adolescent angst in an attempt to come alongside our teen children more compassionately. But if we’re honest, we’ve forgotten how hard it was to wait. We don’t remember what it was to feel like our future was locked in the hands of our parents.
When it comes to the long-expected return of Jesus Christ, if we are not intentional, we can be a lot like the teens in our lives. We, too, can be impatient, wondering what is taking so long, and not preparing well for the inevitable: He is returning to claim his bride as promised.
2 Peter 3:8-9 tells us “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise.” Later in verse 9, Peter explains that it is for our benefit (His great love for humanity) that Jesus has not yet returned. “He wants no one to be destroyed, but wants all who will, come to repentance.” Verse 15 states that, “the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.”
Today, we look around us and hear the groanings of a world getting louder and louder every day, groans that long for Christ’s return.
But we must wait. For He is coming at a time when we least expect it. He will come “as unexpectedly as a thief” (2 Peter 3:10). It will occur in the blinking of an eye.
His promised return brings great things! With His coming is the promise of new heavens and a new earth (v. 13).
His coming is exciting, but the exact timing is a mystery. So we must be prepared.
How should we prepare for Christ’s return? We need to live holy and godly lives and “make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.” (v. 14).
Lord, this Advent season, help us to represent you well and lead more and more people to you while there is still time!