Oct
29
2013
Startled In The Night
My husband had to go on an overnight business trip when we got back from our weekend.
Married all these years, I am used to the times he has to be away.
I sleep well and nothing seems to startle me.
Until last night.
It was about 3:00 in the morning.
A noise woke me up.
I jumped out of bed and opened the bedroom door.
The hallway was fine; nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
I couldn’t imagine what the noise might have been.
I made a mental note to ask my daughter in the morning before she left for school.
I went back to sleep knowing that 5:00am was going to come soon enough.
About an hour later, I heard another sound different from the first.
This sound was coming from the direction of the door that leads out to a balcony.
The noise was low and continuous, sounding more like an animal.
Do I dare put my feet on the floor?
We don’t have any animals in our house so whatever it was did not belong here.
I mustered up sleepy courage and turned on the light.
The balcony door has a pull down shade.
It was down when I went to bed but now it was all the way up.
I tried to make sense of all of this and tried to fathom where the animal might be.
I gathered all my sleuthing skills and pieced together what happened.
There was no animal in my bedroom.
Now wide awake, I began to laugh.
I must not have pulled the shade down all the way when I went to bed.
The initial noise that startled me was the shade releasing and rolling half way up the door.
The low animal sound was the shade slowly rolling up the rest of the way.
As I looked at the door, the shade was hidden behind a little curtain at the top of the door.
Moonlight was streaming in my bedroom casting long shadows of the trees outside.
I sat on the edge of the bed and laughed, grateful that it was nothing more than that.
Oh, the things that startle us.
When we finally put the pieces together, it is never as ominous as it seems.
There will be a time, at the end of all things, when some people will be startled.
At that time, they will put the pieces together and will not be happy with the outcome.
No one knows about that day or hour not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. (Luke 24:36-44)
I had no idea the shade on our balcony door would roll up by itself and startle me.
If I had known, I would have secured it better before I went to sleep.
I had no way of knowing, because what happened was not typical.
Though the noise startled me out of sleep, it is nothing compared to that final day.
Those who are in Christ long for His Glorious Appearing.
Those who have not trusted in Jesus will dread the sound of His coming.
We do not know when Jesus is coming back.
Only God the Father knows the time of His coming.
At that time, there is no turning back; there is no second chance.
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.
(Hebrews 13:8)
Today.
Now.
Don’t be startled when Jesus returns!
Trust in the Lord Jesus, so when He returns you will rejoice when you see His face.
The Lord Jesus will take you to be with Him forever.
Those who have not trusted in Jesus will be startled when He returns.
They will turn away from His face with nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.
Sadly, Jesus will not take them with Him.
They will be separated from Jesus for all eternity.
Startled or Rejoicing?
Each reaction has a very different outcome.
Today.
Now.
It is not too late!
This is one of my favorites. Today! Now! Do not procrastinate! Hebrews 3:7 – 11