Happily Ever After

I Thessalonians 4:16-18 has been my favorite passage of scripture since I first heard it at 8 or 9 years of age. There was something beautifully poetic and victorious about those verses. I memorized them quickly and quoted them often; quoted them to myself many times just for the reminder that He is coming for me.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

I have realized this week just what it is that I find so mesmerizing in this passage. It's the ultimate story-book ending. The King comes for the princess and takes her to his home; the home that he has prepared just for her.

Every little girl has dreamed of the fairy-tale happy ending of life at some point in her childhood. Even as women we still long for the grand story. It is created within us. It is the image of God that we bear upon our hearts; creativity, beauty and romance. Yes, our God is all of that. He is romantic, beautifully creative and the grandest of all story-tellers.

He calls to our hearts. He woos us unto himself because he wants to give us the BIG ending. He wants to give us a beautiful story in life. He wants to be our King and He wants to rescue us!

Not always do our circumstances appear to be beautifully orchestrated toward a happy ending. Acts chapter 7 tells the story of Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power who did great wonders and miracles among the people. The end of Stephen's earthly life-story was to become the churches first martyr. He was viciously stoned to death.

We don't always understand God's plan, but we can trust His heart. For what I notice the most in Stephen's story is in verse 55 of chapter 7, But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

May I suggest to you that the Holy Spirit opened heaven to Stephen's view for the sole purpose of seeing Jesus. So that Stephen could see that his Savior was not a bored by-stander sitting on his Kingly throne, but a King so in love with His subject that He stands because He is involved in what is happening. He stands, anxious for that moment when he will relieve Stephen of his suffering and welcome him enthusiastically into an eternity of rest and face-to-face communion.

So after reading Stephen's story, I now see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 in a whole new light. What I see is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Prince of heaven, God's Son who is seated at His right hand with power and authority, "the Lord HIMSELF will descend from heaven." He is not sending His angels or mighty army for me, He is coming for me HIMSELF. My first face-to-face meeting with my King will be in the air. And He will take me to his home, to a place He has prepared just for me personally, where I will live forever in unbroken fellowship with Him.

We serve a King who loves us so much that He Himself came to rescue us when He came as a baby 2,000 years ago. We serve a King who loves us so much that He Himself will come to rescue us and take us home...any moment now. And we will live happily ever after! Who says God doesn't love a story-book ending?

Clay

Awestruck anew today to think that "we have this treasure in jars of clay"; that He, the Potter who is the pearl of great price, worthy of heavenly palaces of silver and gold would choose to dwell within and live through us....flawed, broken vessels of mere clay.

In love He chooses to re-mold the clay not leaving it in the marred condition in which it was found. Faithfully, the Potter works and painfully smashes the stoney places of our hearts, re-working the clay over and over again.

And "shall the clay tell the Potter what to do or where to work?" No. We must simply wait upon Him. In essence, sit still like a lump of clay. No matter how painful to us nor how painstakingly slow the process may seem, "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to carry out to completion" until we are the vessel He meant for us to be, fit for use in the Master Potter's hand.

Then the clay will sing the Potter's praise and glorify Him throughout eternity!