“15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:15-31 ESV)

All of us live into a strange dynamic wherein utter hopelessness meets a bubble of Faith and little course of Salvation. Somehow our faith is strong when we are weak. Our faith is carrying the torch while we are utterly consumed and don’t feel we stand a chance. Our faith is prognosis and prescription for the ravages of time, which ravages will not leave us untouched.

Will judgment be generous or will it be exclusive? Regardless, it is not to be confused with the these coming tribulations. Through a vale of tears all things become all-encompassing and overwhelming. It scarcely seems that we can hold out hope. It scarcely seems that we stand a chance in the big game of life. It seems our bubble is tiny and of temporary and illusory optimism. It seems that the wheels of time will grind, the ill-motivated designs and slanders will catch up with us, the personal failings will stick out like a sore thumb.

But judgment is not in the trials we go through. Judgment is the “Come up here!” heard when we’d finally give up the ghost, gone painful, gone ruined at day’s end, gone lost. Lost the faith. Lost the good works vibe. Lost the sense we deserved or were inclined after all to be “spared”. We are unspared. We know of a Lord who Rose from death. We know this because it behooves us each and every day to Stop trying to make sense, and to Start trying to accept His overcoming.

He has overcome the metaphysical questions about our existence, about our position, about our duty. He has overcome the pain around any Vocation, for by the sweat of your brow you will till the land. He has overcome the wheels of time that promise only death and decay. Today, if you hear His voice, go for bold, go for Accepting of the Gift, go for curling up in restful position because the battle is His.

Mettle then to fight against that vale, of tears, of violence, of enmity. Our mettle is over and against a reality scarier almost in the victory than in the mediocre compromise. We can be scared to Win. We can be apologetic about Cause and Principle. We can go soft precisely in those things that form a boast not in ourselves but in Another. In the faith and duties of the saints. In the promise and depiction of Life upon Death from that Saint Christ. In the Encounter with utter wastefulness and ruin, with reaching rope’s end, with realizing ourselves Compromised by self-loathing or by pride that ruins, and Encountering what we had ceased to think we deserved, His judgment, His mercy, His almost “joke’s-on-us” parody of all the accolades and accomplishments we had wanted to do for Him.

No, sin is not in the simpler faults, but is precisely in something about ourselves we learn to laugh about: our desire to be proven worthy. Our desire to do the good deed by way of the Father. And in this, reality mocks us. We weren’t wrong for the inclination, but we were wrong to rebel against Him in claiming the honor for ourselves. He is there and present, ready and listening, for our Hopeful turn towards the Son. Who died that we might live. Who self-ruined that we might Rise from self-ruin.