For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12

Meditation

Eschatology is the branch of theology that deals with the “last things.” The word comes from the Greek eschatos (last) and logos (study), so it literally means the study of last things.

The last things scares a lot of people. I can understand how some people are scared to die. In some ways I am. I worry about dying slowly and painfully. When I die I want to go fast and painless, but that may not happen. I worry about my wife and kids. I don’t want to miss any of our big family moments. I want to give my daughter away in marriage. I want to hold my first grandchild. I want to grow really old with my wife. I don’t believe any of those desires are wrong, and I may in fact get to experience all of those things. However, they are not guaranteed. So yeah, in those respects I’m scared of death.

At the same time, I am not scared of death. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 (also known as the love chapter), one day love will be perfected. It will no longer be an abstract imperfect concept. Instead perfect love will be with Jesus “face to face.” Also, perfect love will be with one another “face to face.” Sure, I can talk with you now, but in heaven I will see you and you will see me in perfection. The best of you will be all there is. Imagine the people you love deeply and dearly, but perfect.

This brings me back to my fear of death. If I do pass in 3 years instead of 30, I am going to miss some stuff. But the wedding I am worried about missing will be replaced with my daughter and I in a perfect relationship that transcends and exceeds our father-daughter bond. Together we will enjoy a wedding that’s better than hers. We will both be guests at the wedding of the lamb (Revelation 19:6–9). If I miss the birth of a grandkid, my grandkids and I will enjoy the rebirth of all creation (Romans 8:18–23). Our earthly loves sometimes limits our heavenly imagination. Heaven will be the best of our relationships, experiences, and loves without sin. Even the best of what we have now is only a reflection of what is to come. Nothing lost. All redeemed. 

Question for Reflection

What are your fears about death? How can the Bible’s teaching about redemption of all things reframe your view on what you might lose?

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1

Meditation

I have spent far too many nights not being able to sleep. I tossed and turned thinking about my kids. I have paced the floor at 2 AM ruminating over something that bothers me at work. I’ve seen the sunrise after a sleepless night because I'm irritated by something I wish I would have said or done. I am guessing I’m not alone.

Around 1,600 years ago Augustine said “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Sounds like Augustine was walking the floors. Part of the human condition is restlessness. It’s not just a recent phenomenon. Restlessness did not just spring up because of political polarization, social media, or AI. People had been losing sleep since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden.

We will all struggle with restlessness until we see Jesus face to face. Why? Much of restlessness is grounded in a holy discontent. The world isn’t right, and we want right. Something always feels off. Even though we have great experiences, something is still missing. It’s because everything is incomplete. The best in life is still marked with sin, so it’s like hearing this great note in music, but it still needs one last note to be resolved. Scripture promises when Christ comes, that final note will be played (Revelation 11:15-19). 

In Psalm 63, David talks about a thirst that cannot be quenched. David is restless, but in the Psalm we learn this isn’t a defect. Rather that restlessness is a feature. Christians believe in a moment called the Beatific Vision. This is the moment when the human soul’s deepest desire is fully satisfied by the direct, unmediated presence of God. This is where there is nothing left to seek. Where nothing is left to fill. It is the moment where you, Augustine and I stop pacing the floor.

Question for Reflection

What is keeping you awake at night?

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:3-4

Meditation

When my daughter was little, we noticed that one of her eyes was not tracking with the other. We took her to the doctor because of a lazy eye and found she needed surgery, or she was going to eventually lose vision in that one eye. This surgery involved the doctors removing that one bad eye, detaching the nerve and re-attaching it. The surgery went pretty smoothly until they scratched my baby’s eye. This didn’t create permanent damage, but it did make the recovery slower and more painful. In that season there were a lot of cuddles and naps. But we also spent a great deal of time wiping away a lot of tears.

That four year old didn’t understand why two loving parents would have subjected her to that painful and tear filled decision. I don’t think my wife or I had any way we could have explained it that would have led my daughter to voluntarily go for surgery. Against her knowledge and will, we pushed her through that experience knowing that she would come out the other side with two perfect eyes.

Life is filled with many tear filled experiences we don’t understand. I have had friends who have lost a child. I have visited the funerals of people I love who died of cancer. I’ve been to third world countries with hunger, sickness and the ravages of war. In it all I have no idea why these things happened or what good will come out of them. Yet the Christian faith gives me two pieces of hope in the midst of these types of suffering.

First, the Bible teaches that God is not removed from suffering. Instead, he moved into it through sending Jesus. God knows firsthand what it feels like to be cold, tired, disappointed, brokenhearted and even lose someone (John 11). In Jesus, God put his money where his mouth is. I don’t have answers, but I do have Christ.

Second, the Bible teaches that one day God will wipe away every tear. For the child who is tired and tearful, the God of the universe will stop the crying and provide comfort. 

My daughter is far enough away from that pain and now old enough to understand what we were doing because she’s an adult. She not only understands it, but also loves and forgives us for the pain we subjected her to. The four year old with questions never grew up to ask us a single question about what happened or why. She just loves us because she has perfect vision. In heaven I don’t know if all our questions will be resolved. However, I’m confident the experience of heaven and Jesus will be so great that we will not be worried about the answers.  

Question for Reflection

What has broken your heart in the past that you can’t wait to be redeemed in heaven?

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

Mark 13:32-37

Meditation

Most people have never heard the name John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). Darby is known as the primary figure in church history who popularized literary interpretations of the book of Daniel and Revelation that have become prevalent in contemporary popular Christian culture. He introduced Western Christians to the idea of looking for the Second Coming of Christ through contemporary world events. For roughly 1,800 years of church history Catholics, Protestants, and The Eastern Orthodox Church, acknowledged the literal, physical and glorious Second Coming of Christ to judge the living and the dead. However, churches prior to Darby did not try to interpret news events to calculate how, where and when Christ would return.

Darby’s ideas were fringe in church history until they were popularized in America with the turmoil of the Civil War in the 1860s. We also see the growth of Darby’s ideas through other world events like World War I, World War II and especially the Cold War. The threat of nuclear annihilation led to the popularity of Darby’s ideas in books like The Late Great Planet Earth by Carla C. Carlson and Hal Lindsey. Even after the Cold War, books like the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins became all the Christian rage in the 1990s. Remember, Darby’s ideas were only about 150 years old out of 2000 years of church history.

I’m not here to say that Darby’s ideas were right or wrong. Nor am I here to say God didn’t use these ideas to lead to the conversion of many people. In this I rejoice. Yet Darby’s ideas have bred some abuses of Biblical theology by encouraging people to try to calculate details of Christ’s Second Coming that even Jesus himself said “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Charts, numerology, interpreting current news events, and other Christian superstitions don’t make solid eschatology. 

There are no secret messages to be decoded. No special knowledge for a small group of people who can “read between the lines.” Friends, that is gnosticism (secret personal knowledge of the divine) and not orthodox Christianity. Scripture is clear. The Gospel is simple. What we need to know about the Second Coming is plain. Jesus will return physically, powerfully, and gloriously for judgement. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess (Philippians 2:10-11). 

OK, great history lesson. So what? The Second Coming of Christ should lead to better living, not superstitious looking. Jesus’ command to “watch” isn’t passive observation. It’s active participation. Watching isn’t calculating Christ’s return based on the news cycle. Nor is it going off the grid and building a doomsday bomb shelter. The Great Commission commands us to go out, not hide out. 

Watching is living each day as if “today could be the day” with joy. It’s keeping your house in order so that when the master returns, your spiritual life is in order. Watching is loving your enemy, not waiting for the Second Coming so God will “smoke them”. Watching is being the best parent you can be instead of turning your parenting over to screens. Watching is being a model employee because you know hard work with high integrity is your best tool for witnessing. In the words of the late great poet Johnny Cash. Don’t be “so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good.”  

Question for Reflection

What’s the best way you can keep watch until the Second Coming of Christ?

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:5

Meditation

At the time I am writing this, I am less than a week away from my 52nd birthday. I don’t mind getting older. In many ways I enjoy it. I’m not one of these guys who is fighting to try and act or look young. Granted, I could probably afford to take better care of myself, but I’m ok with the gray in my beard and the wrinkles on my face. I am embracing my age.

Yet I have to confess I miss my younger body. Not for looks or some kind of obsession with youth culture. Rather, I miss my younger body because I love to be active. I miss my more reckless adventures in snowboarding, mountain biking, and other dangerous expeditions. I was a Kamikaze! I still do some of those things, just a lot safer and slower. I would rather cruise a green slope than hit the black trails. As you age, recovery from injury is slower and a 3 foot fall feels more like a 30.

It’s not just adventure sports that I miss. I miss playing guitar for 3 hours and my hands feeling fine. Now I have carpal tunnel and tendinitis, so I'm lucky if I can hit an hour. I miss how sharp and fast my mind used to be. I noticed in the last 10 years I've become much more forgetful. 

Now, I know that there's a whole market of supplements and diets that I can consume which will help with some of this stuff. It's a multibillion dollar cottage industry. I also know there's a whole regimen of exercises and activities that could slow this down. There's no shortage of podcasts that are happy to give me a workout plan. While I should probably do some of these things, there's no changing the fact that no matter how I eat or exercise, as I age I'm slowly dying. My body is breaking down, and that's just a fact. There's no fighting the slow hand of time.

However, I don’t despair. I am hopeful and joyful. Why? For those of us in Christ, we are promised a new heaven, a new earth and a new body. God will make everything new in Christ. The purpose of this isn’t about reclaiming my old hobbies, resharpening my mental acuity for work, or about the Lord making it easier to get out of bed in the morning. It’s about all my capacities and capabilities being restored and perfected for worship. As we age, break, batter and bruise God will restore those handicaps for the glory of His kingdom.  

Question for Reflection

What handicap, physical or mental struggle, or other challenge do you look forward to God redeeming in the future?

Credits

All devotionals written by Shawn Prokes. I (Shawn) would like to thank the following people. 

I want to thank Leah Phillips for editing these devotionals. Where I lack in grammar, Leah excels. She was not only helpful with the technical side of all of this writing, she also had great creative suggestions, ideas and questions along this journey. Thank you Leah for all of your help. Also thank you for putting up with Steve :) He’s a handful.

I want to thank my wife Kari. She’s my biggest fan and a huge source of encouragement when I doubt myself. She also shows me more grace than I deserve because she knows, despite the fact that I believe all of these things I have written, I sometimes have a hard time living them out. In my gaps, she still believes in me.

Finally, I want to thank my kids (Jonah, Ben, and Mariah). Outside of the Bible, you teach me more about God than any other source. I am not a righteous man, but you don’t hold that against me. You give me the chance to try again every day (Lamentations 3:23). My favorite job is being your dad. I know and love God better because of you.