I was up at 3:00 the other night. Powerful thunderstorms shook the walls and turned window panes into drum heads. Jagged lightning wired the whole sky with light. The wind bent trees and tore off leaves. For a long time, I stood at our glass door watching the rage of the storm.
Through the storm came the throbbing murmur of a train and then the bright blast of its horn. We live near the tracks and a major rail hub, so we are accustomed to the trains. This night I was instructed and finally comforted by its power to push through the wind, thunder, and lightning. Through the storm it rolled down the tracks, unworried, on time, and unstoppable.
Bob Dylan famously compared the judgment day and return of Jesus to a slow train coming. We are taught by Jesus to pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”, but the kingdom seems slow in coming. Sometimes everything is darkness and storm. The storm feels louder and stronger than anything—God’s promises, God’s power, and God’s kingdom.
I know so many Christian families that have been ravaged by sin, death, sickness, and broken relationships. I just got the news of a friend, a pastor, whose adult son died. He struggled with alcoholism and all the physical destruction it brought. We all pray for the kingdom of light to advance, but it often seems like the darkness is winning the fight.
Almost every Christian friend my age has seen death, sin, or Satan steal someone from their family. The tomb may be empty but there does not seem to be much resurrection going on in our families or among our friends. Children cry and parents divorce. And the darkness wins.
Yet, in the midst of the storm we hear the heartbeat of God as His kingdom rolls down the tracks. The trumpet of his kingdom rings through the whistle of the wind and rumble of the thunder. Every tear shed, prayer prayed, and command obeyed brings His kingdom closer. It is unstoppable and always on time. The king is coming and, through His Spirit, here now.
