“But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
Mark 13:24,25
People are basically divided into two different types. But there are lots of different ways to separate them.
· Belly buttons. One favorite way to split people is through their belly buttons. You’re either an innie or an outie. There really is no in between.
· Left or right-handed. Yes, there are people that can use either[1], but they still have one hand that is stronger or more nimble.
But the way you can easily, and quickly separate people is whether they are positive or negative. When you meet someone for the first time, it takes about five seconds of talking with them to figure out where they stand.
Sometimes you think about them as people whose glass is half empty or half full. When they look at a situation, what is their assumption about the world, events, and people? Positive or negative?
Perhaps the loudest way these negative people express themselves is how they look at the future. Do they see it as getting better or worse? Getting brighter or darker? Improving or deteriorating?
Capt. Edward A. Murphy was an engineer working on Air Force Project. After discovering that a technician installed two wires backwards, he cursed the technician and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it." This gave birth to the now famous, Murphy’s Law.
If anything can go wrong, it will[2]
Jesus isn’t negative, he’s being real. After all the tribulation, trouble, all the pain, all the sorrow of being betrayed by his disciples, arrested, killed, it’s not over. There’s more trouble on its way.
And this new trouble is way beyond the tribulation or trouble in our individual lives. The sun, moon, and stars all get into the act. What was once solid and predictable is thrown into confusion.
The one thing that we base our daily lives on, the sun rising and setting, is no more. The sun is darkened, throwing the world into darkness.
The moon, which farmers and animals depend on to know what to do when, also goes dark. Without the sun, there is no light to reflect.
We don’t like messages like this. We want instant relief. Instant solutions. Instant healing. Instant service. We want messages from the musical Annie[3].
When I'm stuck a with day that's gray and lonely
I just stick out my chin and grin, and say, oh
The sun'll come out tomorrow, So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow
Come what may, Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow
You're always a day away
The very opposite of this is things continuing their downward spiral. Things going from bad to worse.
But Jesus tells it like it is. He always tells the truth. He lets us know that no matter what, he’s still in charge. He’s still in control. He’s still God. He’s still on the throne and calling the shots. No matter what.
With this kind of personal assurance, this heavenly, blessed assurance, we can even worship and sing.
Blessed be Your name, On the road marked with suffering Though there's pain in the offering, Blessed be Your name[4]
Jesus doesn’t hide the future from us. But he always, always, always, is with us. There may be tough days ahead. Scarry days. Painful days. Hurtful days. Uncertain days. Confusing days. But Jesus never fails or leaves.
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
Hebrews 13:5
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age
Matthew 28:20
The promise of God is to always be with us. Even during those days. I know that you’ve been abandoned sometime in the past. You may be living in abandonment right now. Or be abandoned in the future. But God will never do that to you.
We can rest in him. We can depend in him.
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