Hope

Cease Fire

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Scripture often talks about the battle that Christians will engage in while on this Earth. Perhaps the most well-known passage is in Ephesians 6:10-20 when Paul writes about putting on the armor of God in order to stand strong in God. However, this is not the only place where wartime analogies are used. In I Timothy 6:12, Timothy (and by extension, us) is exhorted to “fight the good fight.” Scripture also makes it clear that there is an enemy (Eph. 6:12, I Peter 5:8), and that this enemy seeks to destroy (John 10:10). The Christian life is far from an easy one; there is ongoing engagement as we fight to bring glory to the Lord.

All of this battle talk can leave one feeling exhausted, as can engaging in the front-line offense. While we may know that we are commanded to not grow weary of doing good (Gal. 6:9), we may wonder how long we can keep up the fight. How long can we resist the temptations of the flesh (See Mt. 6:41, Ja. 1:12)? How long can we choose to repay evil with good (I Thess. 5:15)? The battle can seem long and relentless, and we may wonder whether we can last until the end.

As we ponder this though there are at least two things that should give us encouragement. The first is that God has equipped us to do the things that He has called us to do (Eph. 2:10, 2 Tim. 3:17). In other words, if God has called us to fight, He has given us what we need in order to successfully do so. The battle may be hard and it may be long, but we do not fight alone. It is His power at work within us that enables us to be “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). If we are fighting in our own strength, we are likely to fail. If we are fighting in His, we can have confidence of the victory that awaits.

Secondly, we must engage in the fight with the knowledge that a cease fire is coming. There will be no enemy in Heaven (See Rev. 12:12) , just like there will be no pain and no tears (See Rev. 21:4). The fight will be over. We will no longer struggle with the things of this world, but our entire lives will be focused on that which they were created for – bringing glory to our God and King. In addition, we can, and should, engage vigorously in the battle now, because we know that one day the fight will cease – and the whole Earth will be surrendered to its Creator.

Therefore, the question that penetrates our hearts shouldn’t be “how long will the battle last?” as we know that war will no longer be waged. Instead, it should be “will I fight faithfully today?; will I persevere knowing that one day that battle will be over?”

May we resolve in our hearts to daily answer “yes.”

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Hope

Beating Death

When I was younger, I wrote a poem about death. If I remember correctly it was shortly after I had written another poem on the subject and my parents, sensing a theme, started to get worried. After all, why was their 15-year old daughter focused on something that was ostensibly years away? I quickly reassured them that the subject of my poems were chosen by the nature of the assignment, and that alleviated their concerns. However, I learned then, there’s rarely a good time to write about death. It’s not something that people want to hear about, unless of course, they’re dying. In our youth-focused, age-repugnant culture, we want to avoid any mention of when our lives will end.

However, neither my parents’ concern or people’s lack of response has stopped me from writing about the end of this life, primarily because for me, as for fellow believers, it’s more than the end of life on Earth, it’s the start of life in Heaven. This looking-forwardness is appropriate because what this life has to offer is only temporary and transient. Even when things are going well, we know that things can just as quickly turn badly. For those who have repented of their sins and placed their trust in God, death isn’t a the final farewell, it’s a welcomed Homecoming.

I was reminded of this when, several months ago, I read a tweet by Louie Giglio who was remembering the life of a young man who had passed away the previous year. Louie wrote that, on that day, one year ago, John Evans had “triumphantly beat sickness and death to kneel at the feet of Jesus.” We rarely think of death in such terms, but for the believer, that’s exactly what it is. When we die, we don’t succumb to whatever ended our earthly life, we have overcome it, in order to enter the arms of Jesus. Death isn’t defeat but triumph. The disease, or the catastrophe, or old age hasn’t won; instead we have victory – bought for us on a cross at Calvary thousands of years ago, demonstrated by our Savior’s resurrection from the grave, and fully ours when we lay before Him all our crowns in order to worship at His feet. Death may feel like the end, but for the believer, it is the beginning of truly living.

And even if people don’t like to talk about it, that’s something worth sharing.

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