Malachi 3:19-20 / 2 Thess 3:7-21 / Luke 21:5-19
When God created man, God set man above all creation by creating man in His image.
And we can see that image of God when we look at what we are endowed with and how human beings are unique.
We have intellect and will, we have creativity and other abilities that set us apart and above all other creatures.
So naturally, we want to be healthy and strong, we want to look good, feel good, and of course be good.
And we want to face adversities and difficulties, bravely and courageously.
But no matter how healthy and strong we are, no matter how brave and courageous we may be, we have one common adversary.
And that adversary is none other than fear, which can be anything from a paralyzing fear, to a bone chilling fear to a fear of being alone.
There can be the fear of insects like lizards or cockroaches or spiders. There can also be a fear of heights, or that something may seem normal to most people but causes phobia in some people.
Whatever it is, the effects of fear can be anything from worry and anxiety, to panic and chaos.
In life, there are fears that keep recurring, like the fear of poverty, which may make us obsessed with getting financial security.
Or the fear of losing our jobs, or the fear of illness and diseases, and all sorts of other fears.
In the gospel passage, Jesus addressed three realities that are rather disturbing.
First, He talks about the passing of things, that not one stone will be left on another. In other words, nothing lasts forever.
Then He talks about turmoil and distress, about natural disasters, plagues and famine.
And then He talks about persecution and mortal danger and death.
But despite all that, the last sentence of Jesus gives us the hope that God will protect and save us as He says: Your endurance will win you your lives.
Endurance is to hold on to our faith in God as our Protector and Saviour, especially in the darkest and most frightening moments of our lives.
To have faith means that we must trust in God that He has His ways of protecting and saving us.
There is this story that during World War II, a soldier was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire, he had lost touch with his comrades.
Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves.
Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.
As he waited, he prayed, “Lord, if it is your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen.”
After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy drawing close. He thought, “Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one.”
Just then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.
“Hah” he thought, “what I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.”
As the enemy drew closer, he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to him, he got ready to make his last stand.
To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on.
Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance of the cave, it looked as if no one had entered it for quite a while.
“Lord, forgive me,” prayed the young man, “I had forgotten that in You, a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.”
We all face times of great trouble, distress and turmoil. It is so easy to fear and forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways.
But let us endure, let us keep believing, let us keep hoping and let us keep praying.
God is our Protector and our Saviour. We will not be lost as long as we put our trust in Him.