When Is Christ Coming?

A Word for the Elderly Heart That Is Tired

“Come, Lord Jesus.”

Book of Revelation 22:20

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“When is Christ coming?”

This cry has been in the mouths of the weary since the beginning.

It is not unbelief.

It is exhaustion.

It rises from aching joints, weak legs, sleepless nights, the humiliation of dependence, the loneliness of long afternoons, the embarrassment of a body that no longer obeys, the grief of being alive while so much has been taken.

Many think only the young ask questions. No. The old ask deeper ones.

When is He coming?

Why so long?

Why must this continue?

Does He see?

Does He care?

These are not wicked questions. They are human questions carried to heaven.

“Two thousand years is an awfully long time to hold a grudge.”

But Christ does not delay because of a grudge.

He delays because of mercy.

If He came the moment justice demanded, who would stand? If He came the moment anger asked, who would remain? His waiting is not hatred. His waiting is patience, giving time for repentance, for souls to turn, for hearts to soften, for one more sinner to come home.

The door remains open because He is kind.

“Would He allow His own mother to experience these things?”

Look carefully.

His own Mother knew poverty.

She knew misunderstanding.

She knew exile.

She knew anxiety.

She knew watching the suffering of the One she loved most.

She knew standing helpless at the Cross.

She knew the sword that pierced the heart.

He did not spare her all sorrow. He filled sorrow with His presence.

This is different.

God does not always remove suffering. Often He enters it.

The elderly heart must hear this clearly:

Your weakness does not disgust Him.

Your bodily afflictions do not embarrass Him.

Your slowness does not burden Him.

Your repeated fears do not weary Him.

Your tears are not wasted.

The world prizes youth, speed, usefulness, beauty.

Christ kneels beside the bed of the forgotten.

He is near to those whose bodies fail them. He is close to those who feel ashamed. He knows what flesh can suffer because He took flesh Himself.

Do not think your hidden days are empty.

Every sigh can become prayer.

Every act of patience can become gold.

Every lonely hour can become waiting with the wise virgins.

Every humiliation borne gently can become likeness to Christ.

And when you ask, “When is He coming?”

The answer is:

He is coming at the end of all things.

But He is also coming now.

He comes in the quiet room.

He comes in the mercy of another person.

He comes in the strength to endure one more day.

He comes in the prayer whispered through tears.

He comes in Holy Communion.

He comes in the strange peace that appears for no reason.

The one who waits for Christ is never abandoned.

So if the heart is tired, say only this:

Lord Jesus Christ,

if You do not come today in glory,

come today in mercy.

Sit beside me.

Carry what I cannot.

Stay until morning.