Causation

 Most people today have difficulty acknowledging the why of something in their lives. The onus never seems to be on them, it’s never their fault, and there was always some external force that was the cause of their current predicament.

They’re broke not because they made bad financial decisions but because the man’s trying to keep them down. When you point out that they’re making double the average annual income and still not getting by while others making far less are, they deflect and go on a rant about how their standard of living is of a certain caliber and it must be maintained.

Then the problem isn’t that you’re not making enough money; the problem is that you like things you can’t afford, and rather than be an adult about it and move on, you get into debt because you really need that purse or that watch, or that piece of jewelry you’re going to lose at the beach come summer when it slips off your wrist.

One of the most awkward experiences I’ve ever had was when a friend’s wife showed up to dinner with a new purse that she kept going on and on about. It wasn’t even Cartier, Hermes, Chanel, or Vuitton, it was a Coach bag, but we’re in Wisconsin, so technically, that’s hillbilly luxe.

Life’s too short to suffer fools, so after she mentioned that she paid $500 for it for the sixth time, I looked up and asked her, “what does it do?”

“What do you mean?” she said, giving me a half-smile.

“For five hundred bucks, it better do something more than carry your empty wallet,” I answered.

Her cheeks flushed, she said nothing, but further talk of the new purse was tabled for the rest of the evening.

The only way you can get to the bottom of a situation is to conclude and acknowledge why it is happening rightly. Refusal to do so will keep you in that same situation for longer than it ought to have, and you will grow bitter and disillusioned to boot.

If you started going to the gym, but three months later, you haven’t lost an ounce, maybe adding the extra five thousand calories to your diet once you started working out wasn’t the best idea. You can see the causation, can’t you?

Matthew 24:21-22, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened.”

There are two important points we must extract from these two verses because they matter, they are relevant, and they are important. First, comparing what will be to what has been is a foolhardy endeavor because what will be is such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be.

If you really want to have a reason to break out the antacids, consider all that has taken place since the beginning of the world, both in terms of natural disasters and human atrocity, then realize it will all pale in comparison to what’s coming.

Whatever you think you know about the tribulation will fall short of the actual thing. Whatever atrocity you believe you can compare the tribulation to and get a close representation, or at least within the ballpark, will pale in comparison to the reality of it. This is what Jesus said.

How will the unprepared heart endure? How will those living with the full expectation of the polar opposite happening to them get through such days? These are good questions to hash out now rather than later because girding up the loins of your mind is a you thing, not a God thing.

It is incumbent upon you, personally, to gird up the loins of your mind, to be sober, to be obedient, and holy. That sounds like a lot of stuff. It may be, but in return, you get to rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. It’s worth the tradeoff. Even now, when you have yet to see tribulation as has not been since the beginning of the world, it’s still worth the tradeoff.

The second point we must highlight from these two verses is one that throws a monkey wrench in many a theory, and because of this, many people pretend it’s not there. Jesus clearly states that unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but they will be for the elect’s sake.

The causation, the reason why those days will be shortened, is clearly the elect. If those days will be shortened for the elect’s sake, does that not imply that the elect will be here for those days? If the elect would not be affected by the events of those days, why would the days need to be shortened for their sake?

It’s not uncommon for the Word of God and the opinions of men to clash, and violently so. On the one side, you have the fleeting, temporal, and duplicitous ramblings of men. On the other, you have the words of Jesus, which will never pass away. These are your options as far as whom you are going to believe. Take your pick.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.