CHAPTER 1

"You Do the Trusting;I'll Do the Taking"

When Will He Come?

Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me.... I will come back and take you to be with me.

John 14:1, 3

Parenting is packed with challenges. Who amongus has answers to the questions children ask?

"Why can't I have another puppy?"

"But you got married when you were eighteen. Why can't I?"

"Daddy, what is Viagra?"

Such questions would cause a sage to stammer. They pale,however, compared to one a child asks on a trip. In a comprehensivesurvey conducted by Lucado and Friends (I interviewed acouple of people in the hallway), I determined the most dreadedquestion in parentdom. What is the single query hated most bymoms and dads? It's the one posed by the five-year-old on the trip,"How much farther?"

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Give us the dilemmas of geometry and sexuality; just don'tmake a parent answer the question, "How much farther?"

It's an impossible question. How do you speak of time and distanceto someone who doesn't understand time and distance? Thenovice parent assumes the facts will suffice, "Two hundred andfifty miles." But what do miles mean to a pre-K kid? Nothing! Youmight as well have spoken Yiddish! So the child asks, "What is twohundred and fifty miles?" At this point you're tempted to get technicaland explain that one mile equals 5,280 feet, so two hundredand fifty miles equals one million three hundred thousand feet.But four words into the sentence, and the child tunes you out. Hesits quietly until you are quiet and then asks, "How much farther?"

The world of a youngster is delightfully free of mile markersand alarm clocks. You can speak of minutes and kilometers, but achild has no hooks for those hats. So what do you do? Most parentsget creative. When our girls were toddlers, they loved to watchThe Little Mermaid. So Denalyn and I used the movie as an economyof scale. "About as long as it takes you to watch The Little Mermaidthree times."

And for a few minutes that seemed to help. But sooner or later,they ask again. And sooner or later, we say what all parents eventuallysay, "Just trust me. You enjoy the trip and don't worry aboutthe details. I'll make sure we get home OK."

And we mean it. We don't want our kids to sweat the details.So we make a deal with them, "We'll do the taking. You do thetrusting."

Sound familiar? It might. Jesus has said the same to us. Justprior to his crucifixion, he told his disciples that he would be leavingthem. "Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you willfollow later" (John 13:36).

Such a statement was bound to stir some questions. Peterspoke for the others and asked, "Lord, why can't I follow younow?" (v. 37).

See if Jesus' reply doesn't reflect the tenderness of a parent toa child: "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trustin me. There are many rooms in my Father's house; I would nottell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a placefor you.... I will come back and take you to be with me so thatyou may be where I am going" (John 14:1–3).

Reduce the paragraph to a sentence and it might read: "Youdo the trusting and I'll do the taking." A healthy reminder whenit comes to anticipating the return of Christ. For many, the verbtrust is not easily associated with his coming.

Our pre-K minds are ill-equipped to handle the thoughts ofeternity. When it comes to a world with no boundaries of spaceand time, we don't have the hooks for those hats. Consequently,our Lord takes the posture of a parent, "You do the trusting andI'll do the taking." This is precisely his message in these warmwords of John 14. Let's ponder them for a bit.

All of his words can be reduced to two: Trust me. "Don't letyour hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me" (v. 1).

Don't be troubled by the return of Christ. Don't be anxiousabout things you cannot comprehend. Issues like the millenniumand the Antichrist are intended to challenge and stretch us, butnot overwhelm and certainly not divide us. For the Christian, thereturn of Christ is not a riddle to be solved or a code to be broken,but rather a day to be anticipated.

Jesus wants us to trust him. He doesn't want us to be troubled,so he reassures us with these truths.

I have ample space for you. "There are many rooms inmy Father's house" (v. 2). Why does Jesus refer to "many rooms"?Why does our Master make a point of mentioning the size of thehouse? You can answer that question as you think of the manytimes in life you've heard the opposite. Haven't there been occasionswhen you've been told: "We have no room for you here"?

Have you heard it in the workplace? "Sorry, I don't have roomfor you in my business."

Have you heard it in sports? "We don't have room for you onthis team."

From someone you love? "I don't have room for you in myheart."

From a bigot? "We don't have room for your type in here."

Most sadly, have you heard it from a church? "You've made toomany mistakes. We don't have room for you here."

Some of the saddest words on earth are: "We don't have roomfor you."

Jesus knew the sound of those words. He was still in Mary'swomb when the innkeeper said, "We don't have room for you."

When the residents of his hometown tried to stone him, werethey not saying the same? "We don't have room for prophets inthis town."

When the religious leaders accused him of blasphemy, weren'tthey shunning him? "We don't have room for a self-proclaimedMessiah in this country."

And when he was hung on the cross, wasn't the message one ofutter rejection? "We don't have room for you in this world."

Even today Jesus is given the same treatment. He goes fromheart to heart, asking if he might enter. But more often than not,he hears the words of the Bethlehem innkeeper: "Sorry. Toocrowded. I don't have room for you here."

But every so often, he is welcomed. Someone throws open thedoor of his or her heart and invites him to stay. And to that personJesus gives this great promise: "Do not let your heart be troubled.Trust in God. And trust in me. In my Father's house are manyrooms."

"I have ample space for you," he says. What a delightful promisehe makes us! We make room for him in our hearts, and hemakes room for us in his house. His house has ample space.

His house has a second blessing:

I have a prepared place for you. "I am going there toprepare a place for you" (v. 2). A few years back I spent a weekspeaking at a church in California. The members of the congregationwere incredible hosts and hostesses. All my meals werelined up, each at a different house, each house with a full tableand at each table wonderful conversation. But after a few meals,I noticed something strange. All we ate was salad. I like salad asmuch as the next guy, but I prefer it as a warmup to the main act.But everywhere I went, it was the main act. No meat. No dessert.Just salads.

At first I thought it was a California thing. But finally I had toask. The answer confused me. "We were told that you eat nothingbut salads." Well, I quickly corrected them, and wondered howthey had heard such a preposterous distortion. As we traced thetrail back, we determined that a miscommunication had occurredbetween our office and theirs.

The hosts meant well, but their information was bad. I'mhappy to say that we corrected the problem and enjoyed somegood meat. I'm even happier to say Jesus won't make the samemistake with you.

He is doing for you what my California friends did for me. Heis preparing a place. There is a difference, however. He knowsexactly what you need. You needn't worry about getting bored ortired or weary with seeing the same people or singing the samesongs. And you certainly needn't worry about sitting down tomeal after meal of salad.

He is preparing the perfect place for you. I love JohnMacArthur's definition of eternal life, "Heaven is the perfect placefor people made perfect."

Trust the promises of Christ. "I have ample space for you; Ihave a prepared place for you."

And one last commitment from Jesus:

I'm not kidding. "I will come back and take you to be withme so that you may be where I am going" (v. 3). Can you detecta slight shift of tone in the last verse? The first sentences arecouched in warmth. "Don't be troubled." "Trust God." "There aremany rooms." There is kindness in these words. But then the tonechanges. Just slightly. The kindness continues but is now spikedwith conviction. "I will come back...."

George Tulloch displayed similar determination. In 1996 heled an expedition to the spot where the Titanic sank in 1912. Heand his crew recovered numerous artifacts, everything from eyeglassesto jewelry to dishware. In his search, Tulloch realized thata large piece of the hull had broken from the ship and was restingnot far from the vessel. Tulloch immediately saw the opportunityat hand. Here was a chance to rescue part of the ship itself.

The team set out to raise the twenty-ton piece of iron andplace it onto the boat. They were successful in lifting it to thesurface, but a storm blew in and the ropes broke and the Atlanticreclaimed her treasure. Tulloch was forced to retreat and regroup.But before he left, he did something curious. He descended intothe deep and, with the robotic arm of his submarine, attached astrip of metal to a section of the hull. On the metal he'd writtenthese words, "I will come back, George Tulloch."

At first glance, his action is humorous. I mean, it's not like hehas to worry about a lot of people stealing his piece of iron. Forone thing, it's two and one-half miles below the surface of theAtlantic. For another, well, it's a piece of junk. We wonder whyanyone would be so attracted to it.

Of course, one might say the same about you and me. Whywould God go to such efforts to reclaim us? What good are we tohim? He must have his reasons because two thousand years ago, heentered the murky waters of our world in search of his children.And on all who will allow him to do so, he lays his claim and tagshis name. "I will come back," he says.

George Tulloch did. Two years later he returned and rescuedthe piece of iron.

Jesus will as well. We don't know when he will come for us.We don't know how he will come for us. And, we really don'teven know why he would come for us. Oh, we have our ideas andopinions. But most of what we have is faith. Faith that he has amplespace and a prepared place and, at the right time, he will come sothat we can be where he is.

He will do the taking. It's up to us to do the trusting.

CHAPTER 2

Waiting Forwardly

A Day to Anticipate

So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy livesand serve God, as you wait for and look forward to the coming ofthe day of God.

2 Peter 3:11–12

Funny how Scripture remembers different people.

Abraham is remembered trusting. Envision Moses, and you envisiona person leading. Paul's place in Scripture was carved byhis writing and John is known for his loving. But Simeon is remembered,interestingly enough, not for leading nor preachingnor loving, but rather for looking.

"Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He wasan upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel's comfortingand the Holy Spirit rested on him" (Luke 2:25 TJB, emphasismine).

Let's take a look at Simeon, the man who knew how to waitfor the arrival of Christ. The way he waited for the first coming isa model for how we should wait for the Second Coming.

Our brief encounter with Simeon occurs eight days after thebirth of Jesus. Joseph and Mary have brought their son to the temple.It's the day of a sacrifice, the day of circumcision, the day ofdedication. But for Simeon, it's the day of celebration.

Let's imagine a white-headed, wizened fellow working hisway down the streets of Jerusalem. People in the market call hisname and he waves but doesn't stop. Neighbors greet him and hereturns the greeting but doesn't pause. Friends chat on the cornerand he smiles but doesn't stop. He has a place to be and he hasn'ttime to lose.

Verse 27 contains this curious statement: "Prompted by theSpirit he came to the Temple" (TJB). Simeon apparently had noplans to go to the temple. God, however, thought otherwise. Wedon't know how the prompting came—a call from a neighbor, aninvitation from his wife, a nudging within the heart—we don'tknow. But somehow Simeon knew to clear his calendar and putaway his golf clubs. "I think I'll go to church," he announced.

On this side of the event, we understand the prompting.Whether Simeon understood or not, we don't know. We doknow, however, that this wasn't the first time God tapped him onthe shoulder. At least one other time in his life, he had received amessage from God.

"The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not dieuntil he had seen him—God's anointed King" (v. 26 TLB).

You've got to wonder what a message like that would do to aperson. What does it do to you if you know you will someday seeGod? We know what it did to Simeon.

He was "constantly expecting the Messiah" (v. 25 TLB).

He was "living in expectation of the salvation of Israel" (v. 25PHILLIPS).

He "watched and waited for the restoration of Israel" (v. 25 NEB).

Simeon is a man on tiptoe, wide-eyed and watching for theone who will come to save Israel.

Maybe you know what it's like to look for someone who hascome for you. I do. When I travel somewhere to speak, I oftendon't know who will pick me up at the airport. Someone has beensent, but I don't know the person. Hence, I exit the plane searchingthe faces for a face I've never seen. But though I've never seenthe person, I know I'll find him. He may have my name on a sign,or my book in his hand, or just a puzzled expression on his face.Were you to ask me how I will recognize the one who has comefor me, I would say, "I don't know, I just know I will."

I bet Simeon would have said the same. "How will you knowthe king, Simeon?" "I don't know. I just know I will." And so hesearches. Like Columbo after clues, he searches. Studying eachpassing face. Staring into the eyes of strangers. He's looking forsomeone.

The Greek language, rich as it is with terms, has a stable fullof verbs which mean "to look." One means to "look up," another"look away;" one is used to "look upon" and another "looking in."

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To "look at something intently" requires one word and to "lookover someone carefully" mandates another.

Of all the forms of look, the one which best captures what it meansto "look for the coming" is the term used to describe the action ofSimeon: prosdechomai. Dechomai meaning "to wait." Pros meaning"forward." Combine them and you have the graphic picture of one"waiting forwardly." The grammar is poor, but the image is great.Simeon was waiting; not demanding, not hurrying, he was waiting.

At the same time, he was waiting forwardly. Patiently vigilant.Calmly expectant. Eyes open. Arms extended. Searching thecrowd for the right face, and hoping the face appears today.

Such was the lifestyle of Simeon, and such can be ours. Haven'twe, like Simeon, been told of the coming Christ? Aren't we, likeSimeon, heirs of a promise? Are we not prompted by the sameSpirit? Are we not longing to see the same face?

Absolutely. In fact, the very same verb is used later in Luke todescribe the posture of the waiting servant:

Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. Belike servants who are waiting [prosdechomai] for their master tocome home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks,the servants immediately open the door for him. They will beblessed when their master comes home, because he sees thatthey were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the masterwill dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at thetable, and he will serve them. (Luke 12:35–37)

Please note the posture of the servants: ready and waiting.Please note the action of the master. He is so thrilled that hisattendants are watching for him that he takes the form of a servantand serves them! They sit at the feast and are cared for by the master!Why? Why are they honored in such a way? The master lovesto find people looking for his return. The master rewards thosewho "wait forwardly."

Both words are crucial.

First, we must wait. Paul says "we are hoping for something wedo not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently" (Rom. 8:25).Simeon is our model. He was not so consumed with the "not yet"that he ignored the "right now." Luke says Simeon was a "goodman and godly" (Luke 2:25). Peter urges us to follow suit.

"The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The skies will disappearwith a loud noise. Everything in them will be destroyed byfire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up. In thatway everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people shouldyou be?" (2 Peter 3:10–11).

Great question. What kind of people should we be? Peter tellsus: "You should live holy lives and serve God, as you wait for and[here is that word again] look forward to the coming of the day ofGod" (vv. 11–12).