Surprise!

The Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, He will come as a thief in the night. No one knows exactly when, but as believers we should recognize the signs of His impending return.

Apparently, the Holy Spirit really wants me to learn this lesson!!

Last week, our family slept in and didn't make it to our church. We ended up going to another church in the area, where the text was on 1 Thessalonians 5, which says, "Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to write you about times and dates. You know very well that the day the Lord comes again will be like a thief that comes in the night. While people are saying, 'We have peace and we are safe,' they will be destroyed quickly. It lis like pains that come quickly to a woman having a baby. Those people will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not living in darkness, and so that day will not surprise you like a thief. You belong to the light and to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So we should not be like other people who are sleeping, but we should be alert and have self-control."
1 Thess. 5:1-6

It was a fabulous message, and stuck with me all week--the necessity to live as those in the light, to be vigilant, and to be watchful--not complacent.

Yesterday in Sunday School, Ken taught a wonderful message on the same text. I was cracking up because we had just heard the same message last week, and at the end of last week's service, the church showed a video that was perfect to go along with the text--but I didn't want to share about the video, because then we would have to confess that we had overslept and gone to another church. :) At any rate, the text was impressed again on my heart, and at lunch when we shared with friends that we had just heard the same text preached twice, they joked that God must really want us to hear that message.

Funny coincidence, right?

But THEN, and this is just plain nuts, my brother David called last night at 1:50 a.m. and said that he and his mock trial team were traveling, the roads were icy, and he was going to bring all 15 of them--along with his beloved law professor--to spend the night at our house and wait out the snowstorm. They would be here in about 10 minutes--which was just exactly enough time to change the sheets on the bed downstairs. But not enough time to load the dishwasher, or take down the Christmas tree that should have been taken down weeks ago! Oh, and did I leave my unmentionables hanging in the bathroom downstairs to dry? No time to find out--they were here!! Filling our house, our bathrooms, the floor, and extra places to sleep.

As we tried to go back to sleep in the early morning hours this morning with a house full of strangers, it occurred to me that this is exactly what a thief in the night is! Why didn't we take down the tree yesterday, or even empty the sink, for goodness' sake? I always do dishes before going to bed! Except for last night... How embarrassing!

Lying in bed this morning, I began to wonder (for the 3rd time this week!) what exactly Jesus would find that would be embarrassing--undesirable--not worthy of my calling to be His child--if He were to arrive tonight? Right now? I haven't had time to clean up that big, glaring hunk of--stuff--that I planned to let Him work on sanctifying this very week. But if He saw it now--how embarrassing! Worse than dishes in the sink, or unmentionables hanging in the bathroom, He would see the work that still isn't complete in my character.

I don't know if this even makes sense--but I'm very challenged this week to be vigilant. To remember that I am set apart as a child of God, and since I bear his name, I can't afford to live before others as though "I have peace. I am safe." For as long as we are alive, there is work to be done. I'm also banking on the fact that He is going to complete the work that He has started in me, because He is faithful and just. Not because I deserve it.