The Lord Jesus gives us a task on earth: “Watch! – Watch for my coming!” (Matt. 24:42). This is a most important assignment. If we fulfill this task – to watch for Christ’s coming – we will find it becoming reality now. When we keep watch, our whole being is directed toward this future. We see it before our eyes, we feel it in our whole life. We cannot be swallowed up by the present, for we are linked to the future; we experience this future already. Our life is renewed again and again and something new develops, something that points the way for us to go: each time it is a glimpse into Jesus Christ’s future.

Christ’s future is not just one single point in an indefinite period that we are to wait for. If this were true, we would probably all go to sleep while we waited; but his future is already here. This future with Jesus Christ must become the personal experience of everyone, today, tomorrow, and every day. We must be awake to experience how God works through Jesus Christ.

The future we long for is already here.

The Savior is coming! He is not quietly sitting somewhere in eternity, waiting for a certain moment when he will suddenly  appear. He is on the way. We must always look for him to come among us; we should expect him every day. The coming of the Savior runs like a thread through Christian history, through God’s presence in the world. If this thread is to continue we must not give in to sleepiness. The Lord Jesus is coming! There will be times of storm and thunder, of sorrow and suffering; yet in all such storms, all sorrows, and even when we think we cannot go on, there will be new revelations that will enable us to continue working and watching. Then the time will come when our waiting and watching will bear fruit: the Lord Jesus’ time will be fulfilled.

Watch, and be joyful. Even though fear overcomes you, watch; the Savior will enter into your life. I have often experienced this. I have been led and I have had to say, “There is a way out of this fear.” Even when I felt we could not go on, God showed us a direction – and now we have an inkling of Jesus Christ’s future among us. We depend on this coming of the Savior. That we are allowed to expect such great happenings animates our daily life and thinking and will finally lead to victory.