Rejoice ThoughLiving Between the Resurrection and the Rapture

Easter Sunday is full of joy. But Monday comes quickly, and with it come the bills, the sickness, the family trouble, and the people who talk about you because of your faith. How do you keep rejoicing through the long stretch between the empty tomb and the day Jesus comes back for His own?

On the Sunday after Easter, Dr. Herb Adams reads 1 Peter 1:3-9 and fastens on one small word: though. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness." It means in spite of the fact. He reminds the church that after His resurrection the Lord showed Himself only to believers, and that we love Him today without having seen Him. Peter wrote to Christians scattered across five provinces who were living in the in-between, and he told them plainly to expect fiery trials, to rejoice when they share in Christ's sufferings, to humble themselves, and to feed the flock with the Word of God. With the story of a German baron whose wires on the Rhine made no music until the storm came, and with honest stories from his own family, Dr. Adams shows how God uses trials to bring out the best in a Christian. He closes looking ahead to the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls, when Jesus comes to take His people home.

You do not have to wait for the storm to pass to rejoice. Christ is risen, He is coming again, and in between He keeps His own by His power.