The Lord is at Hand
“Let
your moderation be known to all men; the Lord is at hand.”
(Philippians 4:5)
I have a friend who
always reads the last chapter first when she starts a new thriller. “Takes the anxiety out of
reading,” she claims. So with us: If we know
the end of the story, we can be centers of peace in the midst of utter chaos,
calm in the face of disaster.
Paul calls that attitude,
“moderation”—a term that’s difficult to translate
into English, but one that implies “peace
under pressure.” It refers to the calm and deliberate
strength with which we meet the disquieting circumstances of our days. Kingdoms
may fall, friends and spouses may falter, churches may fold, the “wrong” party may win the next
election, oceans may rise and mountains may crumble, but we can be at peace.
And how do we maintain
such composure? By remembering that, “the
Lord is at hand. At any moment our Lord may burst through the door and turn
everything right side up. Then this world and all its troubles will become the kingdom
of our Lord, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of His glory as
the waters cover the sea.
Jesus said it could
happen very soon! Today
could be the day! It’s the
very last thing he said, in the very last chapter of his book (Revelation
22:20).
There’s an old saying: “If you can keep your head
when others are losing theirs, you don’t
understand the situation.” There’s another saying that’s equally true: “If you can keep your head
when others are losing theirs, you do understand the situation.” You’ve read the last chapter
in the book!
DHR
