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Come Awake
We shuffled into the tiny unfamiliar building, two parents, three daughters behind. The man asked me, “Do you need any help?”
“We’re here to visit a site, but I don’t know which one.”
“How long?”
“Ummm . . . (mental calculating) six years.”
He types into the computer as I dictate and prints out a map with instructions. “Is this him?”
I pause. For some reason, that question is difficult. “I think, I mean yes, could it be, it must be, yes, that’s him.” I read and reread the printout to make sure.
We walk out with paper in hand, follow the signs, count the rows, read the names. “Here it is,” my husband announces.
And it’s . . . him.
My dad.
Daughters stoop down low and trace letters with fingers. Was this his name? Was this his birthday? Was he a soldier? Did he believe in God—is that why the cross? Was he old?
No, not old, just sick, very sick.
I can feel the breeze of heaven in that place.
So many days now, I find myself praying, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.”
Is there anything more to say at times? For tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wild fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, cancer, death, abused and neglected children—they are the aching screams and moans of an earth longing for its Creator. Death and death and death awaits new life when the trumpet sounds and Christ calls, “Come awake!”
C.S. Lewis wrote, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
That’s why this earth hangs loose on my shoulders, so ill-fitting. I pray, “Come, Jesus. Come quickly. Call us to break free from a world of death and live life eternal in Your presence because this place, this death-world is not home for us.”
Yes, Lord “haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend even so, it is well with my soul” (Spafford).
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelations 22:20, NIV).
Come, Lord Jesus.
Yet, this resurrection thinking, this coming awake, is not just for my eternal future; it’s for the here and now of my life. Christ renews and resurrects today.
He bids us “Come awake”
when we let spiritual gifts lie dormant
when we withdraw out of pain
when we hold the shattered remains of relationships in our hands
when we hurt and hide away
when we bury a dream
when we face a closed door
when our life season changes
when our rational selves tell us not to hope for what is impossible
Here I sit, still on this earth, still aching and longing for heaven, but living confined by this earthly shell.
Thus, I am reminded as I stand at my dad’s grave
to linger over
to wait upon
to enjoy
to bask in
to rest in
Christ’s presence
because there the scent of heaven is strong.
I ache for time with Him, for moments of worship and soaking in His Word. Not to rush through and get done, shutting up Bible to turn on television or answer email. Instead to sit quiet and still, me the saved one with Him the Savior.
This is how I “set (my) mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2, NIV). This is how I respond as He calls me to “Come awake” and to exit tombs of unbelief and fatigue, of people pleasing and fear, of comfort and complacency, of hurt and brokenness. I exit the tomb and rise to my Risen Lord.
David Crowder Band: Come Awake
Come awake, from sleep arise
You were dead, become alive
Wake up, wake up, open your eyes
Climb from your grave into the light
Bring us back to life
You are not the only one who feels like the only one
Night soon will be lifted, friend
Just be quiet and wait for a voice that will say
Rise, rise, to life, to life
To keep up with Heather King, check out her blog at: http://heathercking.wordpress.com/
Copyright © 2008-2015 Heather King
Reader Comments...
| 2011-07-05 21:44:40 "Good word, Heather. May the Father of all Creation continue to give you comfort and peace as you draw closer to Him, your Risen Lord. We all await His Return!" - Decie |
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