The Wait

Long ago, in a galaxy far far away, there were three brothers living in a corrupt country which I’m gonna name Durutia. One brother was a successful businessman, one was a surgeon, and the third was a revolutionary. The revolutionary was respected for his charismatic leadership of his guerilla regime and his military strategy and prowess. Eventually, this brother conquered and ascended to take the throne of Durutia’s rival country, (uhhh thinking of a name…) Arinne. This man, the new emperor loved his brothers dearly and contacted them via some really high-tech communication system. The emperor wanted his brothers next to him, but knew that Durutia would never let them move to Arinne. However, the emperor had been planning to conquer Arinne, and was slowly building his resources and his kingdom, knowing that he could kill two birds with one stone; destroy the evil Durutia regime and retrieve his brothers. So he told his brothers to wait for the day that Durutia collapses, to keep their noses clean and start severing ties with the country. In return, the emperor promised his brothers thrones of their own and unity as a family, but it would take time for this to happen. So the brothers were sent off with orders to not fall to the corruption of Durutia and that the next time they would hear from the emperor would be when he came for them.
Well, the years went by, and nothing really happened…it seemed like Arinne disappeared off the map. The businessman had given up hope and fell to the temptations of the world around him. He used his wealth to buy cars and clothes and hosted raucous parties. He bribed officials whenever he got into trouble with the law, which, by the way, was a lot. On the other hand, the surgeon had given up his practice, donated all his money and possessions, and did work as a hired hand, all the time knowing in his heart that his brother the emperor would never forsake him. Well, this went on for a decade, and still there was no sign of the emperor. Then one day, you guessed it, Arinne had industrialized rapidly and the emperor had incorporated other countries together and formed an army of massive proportions. The emperor came and crushed Durutia. The country was leveled and the government razed, buildings and houses were burned down, and the corruption of Durutia came to an end. The emperor gathered his two brothers and asked them, “So did you do what I asked of you?” The emperor saw what the surgeon had sacrificed and gave him a position as a duke. However, when the emperor saw what the businessman had become, he became very angry and cast the businessman away, saying, “You did not believe in me! You had no faith in me and I am insulted! Out of my sight!”
Read 2 Peter 3:1 – 18
My little narrative is an example of this passage. This teaches us to keep steady in our faith, to wait and trust that one day, even if it isn’t in our lifetime, God will come and claim his kingdom. We cannot fall to the temptations of this world, because there are so much better things waiting for us in another world…God’s world.

Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Thank God for the church, that he has provided us a place to gather and worship him.