How long will it be?

When we Christians go through a crisis it is not easy to endure. It is even more difficult when we get the impression that God has forgotten us because, as it seems to us, he has not answered our prayers for far too long. Or when we find that God is acting very differently from what we wanted. In these situations we have a wrong understanding of how God acts. We read about promises in the Bible, we pray and hope that these will soon be fulfilled: «But I am close to you, I want to save you, and now! My help is no longer in coming. I want to give Jerusalem salvation and peace and show my glory in Israel »(Isaiah 46,13 Hope for all).

The verse from Isaiah is just one of the statements scattered throughout the Bible in which God promises to act quickly. In its context, it is about God's assurance that the Jews in Babylon would be brought back to Judea, but it also points to the coming of Jesus Christ.

The Jews, still trapped in Babylon, asked when can we go. The cry was heard that rose regularly to God from his mortal people through the ages. He can also be heard in times of imprisoned children who are waiting for his reign on earth to begin. Again and again God said that he would not hesitate because he knew our problems.

When the prophet Habakkuk had a nervous breakdown because of the injustice of the people and complained to God about the lack of action in his day, he received a vision and an assurance that God would act, but God added: «The prophecy is yet to come will be fulfilled in its time and will finally come out freely and not deceive. Even if it drags on, wait for it; it will certainly come and not fail to appear »(Habakkuk 2,3).

On a long journey, all children plague their parents after just a few kilometers and want to know how long it will be. It is true that our perception of time changes as we grow from infancy to adulthood, and it seems the older you get the faster it goes, but still we inevitably struggle to take God's perspective.

«In the past God spoke to our ancestors in many ways through the prophets. But now, at the end of time, he has spoken to us through the Son. God has determined him that in the end everything should belong to him as his inheritance. Through him he also created the world in the beginning ”(Hebrews 1,1-2 Good News Bible).

In the Letter to the Hebrews we read that the coming of Jesus marked the "end of time" and that was over two thousand years ago. So our speed will never be the same as God's speed. It can appear that God is hesitant.

Perhaps it helps to put time in perspective by looking at the physical world. If we consider that the earth is probably over four billion years old and the universe almost fourteen billion years old, then the last few days could drag on for a while.

There is, of course, another answer than brooding over time and relativity, preoccupation with the Father's tasks: «We thank God at all times for you all and remember you in our prayers and think continuously of your work before God, our Father in faith and in your work in love and in your patience in the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ »(1.Thess 1,2-3).

There's nothing like being busy to be amazed at how the days fly by.

from Hilary Buck