Back in May, when everyone was talking about Harold Camping’s predictions, I wrote a blog post saying that no one knows the day or the hour that the end will come. (May 20, 2011) At the time, we were talking about the end of the world and Judgement Day, but it is very likely that our end will come before then, and we can’t know the time or the hour of that either.
I have been thinking more than usual about death lately, because I seem to be exposed to it more than usual. There has been a death in my family, but there has also been death, near death and uncertainty all around me. In the spring, Al and Rita Chretien went missing. Rita thought that she was going to die, but was found after 7 weeks. Al still has not been found. Robert Porter was also trapped in his car on a deserted road, and was preparing to die. Unlike Rita, Robert was not able to move, had little water with him and was sitting in a hot car, unable to roll down the windows. He was rescued after three days, but three days is a long time to think about what you would like to do differently. Other people have not had that contemplation time. We have just passed the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Thousands of people had no more than a few minutes to think, many of them no time at all. A car crash could happen without warning. So could a heart attack, or cancer, or murder.
In Acts 1:7, Jesus told His disciples that they were not permitted to know the times that the Father has set by His own authority. Only God knows all the answers. The rest of us have to live by faith, and be as prepared as we can be for the Father’s schedule to unfold.