If the Lord were to come to me today, would I be ready? This question has usually been taken to describe the moment of my death. When death finally comes, and I know neither the day nor the hour, would I be ready to meet my Creator? This moment of death has often been portrayed as the time of judgement, a time to give an accounting of my life. Because of this, death can be seen as a frightening experience for many. But death can be the supreme moment of excitement. It will be the time when I will finally come face to face with the unseen and abiding Presence who has sustained me in life. I will finally feel His embrace like never before. I will have the answers to all my unanswered and unanswerable questions. All the paradoxes and contradictions in my life will finally be resolved and untangled. I will finally be blessed with my hear’s deepest longings and all my yearnings shall be fulfilled. Yes, I am ready for the coming of the Lord anytime and anyplace. It is with joyful expectation that I await His coming.
But God does not come to me only at the moment of death. He also comes to me daily in my life. And the challenge is not whether I am ready for Him to come but whether I would recognize Him when he does. Do I see God in the ordinariness of my life today? Do I feel His soft caress in the gentle breeze or His power in the wind and thunder? Will I reach out and touch Him in the needy and hungry people I will meet today? Do I see him moving in the events unfolding in the world around me even when things do not seem to make sense? Can I be kinder and gentler to everyone I meet today for God also dwells in them? What would it take for me to constantly recognize God’s presence in my life, in the people around me, in the world, in the unfolding of events in my everyday life?
I pray for wisdom to know the answers to my questions and the strength and courage to do and acct accordingly.
I will praise your name for ever, O Lord.
Psalm 145
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Matthew 24:42–44