I am sitting at a table overlooking the beach and feeling extremely grateful for the incredible view that I am witnessing. A storm just came through and the ocean has turned from choppy to a smooth lake like surface. I can still hear the thunder rolling in the distance. Everyone has left and I find myself alone with only my thoughts to keep me company.
The sky is still cloudy but there is rain pouring down over the horizon, looking almost like a funnel cloud. Off to the southwest, the clouds begin to break up and the afternoon sunlight creeps over the sandy beach.
As I watch the billowing clouds over the deep blue sea, I can’t help but wonder what the day will be like when Christ returns. In Acts 1:9-11, the Bible states, “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee’, they said. ‘This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”
These words coupled with the beautiful ocean view that I have before me, only creates in me a sense of eagerness for the arrival of our Lord and Savior. Revelations 19:11 shares with us how this will occur. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With Justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”
I have no words to describe what this moment will be like when Jesus does come back to our broken world. All I know is that when he does come, life as we know it will forever change. But for now, as I look over the vast ocean and billowing clouds, I can only thank God for the understanding of things to come.