To My Fellow Christians

"Come, Lord Jesus."

I think I'm starting to hate this phrase.

I get it.  It's about hope.  And I believe in hoping.  I believe in believing that one day this world will be made new.  I believe that when it happens I will be there rejoicing with my King.  I believe that everything will be good then - no pain, no suffering, no brokenness.  And I want that, really really bad.  I long for that so deeply that my soul aches.

But there's more to it than that.  Jesus's return is more than just the happy ending for Christians.  Jesus's return is also the sad ending, the terrible ending, the only ending for those who have not accepted Christ.

Do you get that?  Do you realize that, when you're begging Jesus to come back right here right now?

When He comes, it will be too late.  For every soul that has not known His love, there will be no more hope.  No more chances to meet the grace that you and I know.

That's why my soul aches.  Because this world is broken.  And I want every last person on this earth to know Him and be mended.  Begging Jesus to return so that my problems are all solved, while there are people in this world who have never even heard His name, is probably the most selfish thing I could ever do.  And it's the most selfish thing I have ever seen others do.

I know it's not intentional.  I know you want redemption in full.  I do, too.  But not yet.  I want to see God, yes.  But I want to be able to stand before Him and tell Him I did everything in my power to save His lost sheep before coming Home.  I want to know that I was out in the field for as long as He let me stay, looking, coaxing, longing for them to come Home with me.

As my Christian university sang that phrase on repeat this week, all I could do was sit down and pray:  "God, not yet.  Please, not yet.  Please let more people come to know You.  I'm sorry I don't want You yet, but please.  Don't come yet."

And I know that neither my prayers nor anyone else's can really dictate Jesus's return.  He's God.  He does what He wants.  But I strongly hope that a humble prayer, asking Him to use us well until the last possible moment, would be on our lips more often than the request for Him to just come back already.  No current suffering, whether yours or someone else's, is bigger than the suffering faced by a human who comes to the end of their life without ever having known God.

So, my friends, please stop asking Jesus to come back.

I challenge you instead to ask Him why He hasn't yet.  Ask Him how He wants to use you to bless others.  Ask Him to equip you to serve Him well until the time comes.