It Gets Worse First
Most of us understand that in some areas of life things get worse before they get better. Cleaning the garage usually means a gigantic mess on the driveway before the garage comes into order. When a cancer diagnosis comes, it often means surgery, chemo or other painful and difficult treatment before we come to a place of healing.
Jesus assures us that the course of this world will be the same. We will have a hard path to get to the kingdom we are promised.
In Sunday’s Gospel from Luke, Jesus warns that there will be the destruction of the Temple – God’s presence on earth, nation rising against nation, wars and insurrections, arrests, beatings and even executions. This is part of the path this world must follow to become the Kingdom promised.
This doesn’t mean that every war, every unjust arrest, every temple destroyed signals the end of this world. Nor does it mean we should seek these things out as though we might hasten the coming of the Kingdom by starting a war.
Jesus’ message in telling the disciples – and us – these things, I believe, is simply that we will not fall into terror when the bad things come. Forewarned is forearmed. We are not defeated!
I watch the Florida State Seminoles football, but I usually end up watching them a day or two later on the DVR. Sometimes I know the outcome of the game before watching, and seeing a bad first quarter or a dramatic ‘pick six’ by the opposing team feel very different when I know the final outcome.
So it should be for us as we navigate the challenges of this life. God is not defeated! We know the outcome! A bad first quarter does not change the end!
And this is not just fist-pumping, but so that we can confidently continue to serve when we might otherwise be distracted into fear and inaction.
Where might you serve God better if you focused more on the final outcome?
This column appeared in the November 13, 2022 edition of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.
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