Do You Have the Correct Attitude in Welcoming the Lord?
Now the prophecies of the Lord’s return have been basically fulfilled. Many people are testifying on online platforms that the Lord Jesus has returned. Upon hearing such news, some people take this prophecy of Revelation into consideration: “Behold, he comes with clouds” (Revelation 1:7). They think that the Lord will come among white clouds upon His return, and they don’t believe that the Lord has already returned since they haven’t seen Him coming with white clouds. However, will the Lord really appear according to our imagination?
God once said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). We humans can never comprehend God’s wisdom, nor can we foresee God’s plan for His work. Can we make sure that our understanding of prophecy is what God means? Think about it: The earliest Pharisees held onto the literal meaning of the prophecies in the Scripture and believed that the Messiah would be born in a palace and hold official power. However, when the coming of the Lord Jesus was different from their notions and imagination, they refused to accept the Lord Jesus and even nailed Him to the cross, committing a heinous sin and thus being cursed by God. It can be seen that the failure of the Pharisees is a warning to us who long to welcome the Lord Jesus’ return. So what attitude should we take toward the return of the Lord Jesus?
God’s word says, “The appearance of God cannot be reconciled with man’s notions, still less can God appear at the behest of man. God makes His own choices and His own plans when He does His work; moreover, He has His own objectives and His own methods. Whatever work He does, He has no need to discuss it with man or seek his advice, much less to notify each and every person of His work. This is the disposition of God, which should, moreover, be recognized by everyone. If you desire to witness the appearance of God, to follow God’s footsteps, then you must first walk away from your own notions. You must not demand that God do this or that, much less should you place Him within your own confines and limit Him to your own notions. Instead, you should ask how you are to seek God’s footprints, how you are to accept God’s appearance, and how you are to submit to the new work of God: This is what man should do. Since man is not the truth, and is not possessed of the truth, he should seek, accept, and obey.”
“Let go of your opinions about the ‘impossible’! The more that people believe something is impossible, the more likely it is to occur, because the wisdom of God soars higher than the heavens, God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts, and the work of God transcends the limits of man’s thinking and notions. The more that something is impossible, the more it has truth that can be sought; the more something lies beyond man’s notions and imagination, the more it contains the will of God.”
We can see from God’s words that His appearance is not something we can determine. Within whatever God does is His wisdom. We should not ask God to do things in line with our own ideas, but learn to let go of our own imagination and seek God’s will more. Especially when we hear someone preaching that the Lord has come back, we should investigate with humility first. This is the only way we can have the opportunity to welcome and be reunited with the Lord.
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