Something is bound to go wrong! Can the Cubs really hold on to this lead, defeat the Dodgers, and go to the World Series?
As I watched the Cubs defeat the Dodgers last Saturday night, I had nagging doubts until the very last out. Would the Cubs win and actually gain a spot in the World Series for the first time since 1945?
Perhaps my qualms came from desiring to see this happen for so very long.
As a small boy back in the 1960’s, I frequently listened to Cub games on my transistor radio all the while hoping they would somehow make it to the World Series.
I remember 1969; it seemed like that would be the year for the Cubs. Before the season began Ernie Banks said, “The Cubs will shine in ’69” and they played like champions for much of the season. Then the New York Mets got hot and the Cubs faded like an ice cube on a scorching hot day. In my high school history class, the teacher brought in a box of Kleenex specifically for Cub fans as hopes of a pennant faded.
Although I have not followed baseball for many years, I always pay attention to the fate of the Chicago Cubs. Most seasons, hopes fade early as the Cubs lose game after game. This season, however, the Cubs immediately took the lead in their division and ended up with the best record in all of baseball.
So what was the source of my misgivings regarding the Cubs as they played the Dodgers for a trip to the World Series? It was not the amazing amount of talent on the team.
Rather, I doubted that something I had anticipated for so very long would actually happen.
Isn’t it the same way with our hope for Jesus’ return to take us home? After waiting for something for so long, we begin to think it won't happen!
Isn’t it the same way with our hope for Jesus’ return to take us home?
Most of us have looked for His appearing for many years, if not decades. Just like waiting for the Cubs to win the pennant, it’s easy to think this will not happen, at least not anytime soon.
As result of waiting so long, we all too often dismiss our hope and live as though Jesus will never show up and radically change everything.
Scripture tells us, however, that Jesus will return just as promised; our waiting will not be in vain.
The Waiting
Unlike waiting for the Cubs to go to the World Series, our hope in Jesus’ return remains certain. The Lord said He would someday return for us (John 14:1-3); no such promise ever existed for the Cubs to ever win the National League pennant.
The same Lord who predicted both His death and resurrection promises to return and take us to be with Him. With Jesus’ track record, it would be foolish to doubt His promise to return for us. And yet . . . we wait!
The same Lord who predicted both His death and resurrection promises to return and take us to be with Him. With Jesus’ track record, it would be foolish to doubt His promise to return for us.
And yet, if there's one word that stands out in the New Testament regarding the Rapture, it’s “wait.”
In Philippians 3:20 Paul clearly addresses this wait, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word Paul used for “await” in this verse denotes “intense anticipation” and an “excited expectation” of a future event. The word implies eagerness and even a longing in our hearts for a future event.
At times, our waiting for Jesus’ appearing may seem a bit surreal. Will it really happen? Will He show up just as He promised?
Yes! The Cubs’ victory reminds us that things we hope for do happen.
Will the Cubs go on to win the World the Series? We cannot know at this time.
Will Jesus come someday for us?
This we can know for sure. He will come just as He promised regardless of the wait.
Despite the length of our wait whether it be a day, a week, a month, a year, several years, Jesus will not disappoint. He will come at precisely the right time!