Failed Expectations

There are few verses in the Bible that scare me. Not because I don't understand them, but rather because I understand them all too well. The verses that scare me most, are not the words penned by mere mortals, but the words spoken by Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. The church by and large seems to be on standby. We go through the motions every Sunday, sing along with the hymns, if the church we happen to be attending still sings hymns, or shake our heads to the rhythm of the drums, trying to understand the words the worship leader is screaming at us, hoping to make sense of it all, praying to hear the word 'Jesus' thrown in at some point, and waiting. We've gotten good at waiting.
For the past two decades or so, we've been waiting, and waiting, expecting anticipating, that great end time revival that's supposed to fill every church to the rafters, pack out the overflow rooms, and still have hundreds waiting in the parking lot, waving their hands in the air, euphoric with the thought of entering the hallowed halls of the sanctuary.
With hope in our hearts we wait, growing somewhat concerned at the lateness of the hour, at the eruption of sin even within the church, at the gathering darkness, but we're still hopeful. Why just last Sunday, the guest speaker mentioned the coming revival, and how we're supposed to help finance it. See, he said revival was coming too.
Some have waited for so long that they've fallen asleep, in fact a deep sleep, dreaming pleasant dreams, but unlike Euthychus, they sleep in plush recliners not in a window three stories above ground.
They sleep because they figure the noise of the coming revival will stir them from their slumber, and well, they're not the only ones catching a few winks, resting up for that glorious day when they'll have to perform the duty of usher to the unsaved.
Once in a great while their slumber is disturbed by the reality of the world around them, shattering the illusion they've meticulously built for themselves like a stone thrown forcefully through a window. Alas the spiritual anesthesia pumping through their hearts is too strong, unwilling to allow them to be brought to complete alertness, so somewhere between slumber and wakefulness they are dragged back into the deep, never having broken the surface of reason.
And so they slumber on, waiting for a revival that will never come, failing to save themselves from the flames while hoping to save multitudes.
Yes, there are verses that scare me in the Bible, because they contradict popular sentiment, and opinion. One of those verses is the reason I was burdened to write this article:
Luke 18:7-8, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
Unanswered questions scare me, because they are either rhetorical, or the truth is so unnerving that they are better left unanswered.
Rather than live with our heads in the clouds, waiting for a revival that will never come, may we hold fast what we have, that we may overcome, and thus be made pillars in the Temple of God, and receive the crown of life.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Post Script: This is not the article I intended to write. Somewhere between my head and my fingers, there seems to have been a short circuit of sorts, and this is what came out. Lord willing, tomorrow I will post the article I intended to post tonight.