By
Dana Rausch
/ August 29, 2011
August 29, 2011
She’s in labor. She’s dilated to 8. She is in transition! Those exciting words you long to hear. The baby is coming and it is coming quick now. You have waited for this announcement for months. You have prepared for this day. The nursery is done as you’ve accumulated all that you will need. You have prepared yourself with birthing classes so you know what to expect and what to do. If you are the soon to be Mommy, you’re in pain. If the soon to be Daddy, you’re in excited and scared at the same time. If you’re the grandparents, you anticipate the new arrival with excitement, knowing what to expect!
The “unexpected” OR THE FEAR of the unexpected is what unnerves many. The what if’s that permeate our mind. Or better yet, the unknown. We do not know what is going to happen or what is happening. I will always remember the gamut of emotions at having my first child. I was so afraid of all that I didn’t know, that I cried all the way to the hospital. Although I took the classes, it was all so new. I had never been in a hospital before. Is it going to hurt too much? What if something is wrong with the baby? What if it is a girl and not a boy? (Ha Ha Brooke…)
Personally, I want to know what is going to happen. I can hardly sit through a movie without knowing the ending. The anticipation kills me! That is what I like about books….I can read the end first! If I go to the dentist, I lay in the chair with my eyes closed in fear, and ask the dentist to just tell me what you are doing. The unknown scares me. I want to know exactly where I am going before I leave. I need to look at a map so that I can see it in my mind. GPS has been the greatest invention for me!
Recently, I have been riveted with fear as I anticipate the future. Will we ever get out of this economic mess? Will my house ever be of any value again? Am I going to be forced to accept an insurance plan that I don’t get to choose? Does the future look bleak for my grandkids? Will life ever be carefree again? Am I ready for the “BIG ONE” that will hit the Andreas fault any day? Am I going to die of cancer? Questions, questions and more questions bombard my mind.
Jesus is coming back, but we seemed to have settled and lost our focus. Truly, I feel that we have hit the point of no return because we have reached the last trimester and are in the transitional stage. The events we see around us actually should not surprise us. Warnings were posted repeatedly and told us that they will happen in succession and grow in intensity. Earthquakes in various places……gee that is happening. Economic crisis is America has conveniently laid the groundwork for a one world currency. Various religious factions have meshed to the point that we have a melting pot of spiritualism, opening the door to a one world religion. Subtly, things were being put in order, while a lot of Christians closed their eyes.
While we grew comfortable and settled, the enemy cleverly was doing his dirty work. Matthew 24 describes end times. Verse 8 says, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.” I firmly believe we are in the last trimester. Events will grow in intensity, repeatedly, and quickly. Just like labor pains, the contractions become closer together and there is hardly time to breathe between them. Luke 21:9 says, “..do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” Matthew 24:12, says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
It has always saddened me to think of hearts growing cold in the last days. Yet, when I look around I see it everywhere. LIFE has gotten in the way. Money, jobs, kids, marriages, have taken over our lives and choked out Jesus. Lives revolve around making the mighty dollar. Or, our children have become everything to us, excluding our husbands and the Lord. Marriages are crumbling all around. Although I know this has been a trend for years, it is heartbreaking for me to see friends in the church just throwing it all away.
Jesus is coming back. We have heard it for years. Quite possibly tucking it in the back of our minds and thinking it won’t be in this lifetime. I beg to differ. Crystal Lewis sings…..People get ready, Jesus is coming, soon we’ll be going home. People get ready, Jesus is coming, to take from the world his own….” Can I encourage you in these tumultuous times TO GET READY? Because friends, we have come close to the end. We are in the transitional phase.