In the book of Matthew, Jesus Christ reassures His followers: “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
The question that we need to ask ourselves is, “Do we have the confidence in Christ and in God the Father to really believe His promise to be with us?” Do we trust our Elder Brother, the Son of God, to fulfill that promise, or are we starting to become a bit uncertain?
Let’s face it, we live in turbulent times. The corona virus pandemic has wrought havoc on the world. In addition to the multiple hundreds of thousands who have died, many more lives have been shattered by the economic consequences of the lockdowns which have been imposed in most countries on the planet. (This is not a comment on the justification or lack thereof for the lockdowns. It is comment on the stark reality of the situation.)
We cannot forget that Satan, the great adversary, is alive and well and feverishly going about his goal of trying to destroy our faith – to cause us to doubt our foundations.
As Satan was tempting Christ, he appealed to what he thought were the normal self-preservation/self-exaltation instincts that he was sure Christ had. “If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew chapter 4). But, of course, Satan did not even begin to understand the godly mind of our Elder Brother. And that is the mind which we are striving to develop – with God’s help, of course! (See Philippians 2:5.)
Satan would love for us to begin thinking, “If Christ were really in charge, why did my [cousin, uncle, mother, close friend] become sick with or die of covid-19?” Or, “I am trying to follow God’s way, why am I suffering so?”
Back to the original question: Do we believe that Jesus Christ will be with us – just as He said – until the end? We have probably heard more than once in various sermons that God knows each of us personally and that He loves us dearly. We know that He is working with us and we, maybe somewhat grudgingly at times, admit that He allows trials in our lives so that we may learn many different things. (And sometimes so that those around us may learn also.) At what point do we cease to focus on His promises, cease to focus on the future that we have been promised, and begin to allow a difficult and hurtful present to rob us of our confidence in that promise? At what point do we allow Satan to cause enough doubt in our minds to slow or stymie our growth as children of God?
We must fight against the tendencies of this world. We cannot allow Satan to win. With the supernatural help of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives – which He has also promised – we can have the victory.
If we do notice some of this doubt and uncertainty creeping into our lives, then maybe we need strive a bit harder to be close to God and not lose sight of the goals that God has for us. We should fill our minds with godly principles. We can ask God to help us to do so. We can ask God to strengthen us through His Holy Spirit. We can go to the Bible and look up some of the promises of God. They are there to be found. We might want to start with this one: “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Cliff Veal
