Only A Little While

“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” (Heb 10:37 AV)

We often forget just how close the return of our Savior might be.  There are those who believe it is most assuredly right around the corner.  The gathering of Israel is their proof.  There are others who believe the return of Christ is still generations away.  They point to the fact that things could always get worse and probably will.  They believe that since the church has be predicting the eminent return of Christ in each successive generation (and they were wrong), then our generation will be wrong, too. The fact of the matter is, the writer of the book of Hebrews calls it “a little while”.  He assures us that Christ will not tarry.

There were times when we knew exactly when my father would come home.  Other times, not so much.  We knew exactly when he would come home from work.  We knew what route he would take.  We knew when he would come home from different meetings.  He was very punctual like that.  However, there was one time in his life when we didn’t really know the exact time.  Over several summers, he worked at a Boy Scout camp and then a Girl Scout camp.  He would come home on the weekends.  It would usually be a Saturday afternoon.  Sometimes it would be Saturday mornings or even Friday nights.  We looked for his return.  We may not have known the exact time or hour, but knowing the certainty of his return made the exact time a non-factor.  As long as he was coming back, that was all that mattered.  Whether it was a few hours, or a few days, compared to the time away, and time left seemed like a little while.

The same is true of Christ’s return.  It may be a few generations yet.  But compared to the almost 2,000 years since His departure, it seems like a little while.  Whether it is a few hundred year yet, or a few more days, compared to the history of the church and what the church has had to endure in His absence, the time left is but a little while.  The truth by which we need to be encouraged it His eminent return and not in the exact timing of it.  Regardless of how much time is left, it is still only a little while.  There is nothing that will stop His return and He will not dawdle until He feels like it.  He will not tarry.  It is only a little while.