We’ve all got a part of ourselves we refuse to hand over—the place that says, You don’t get this, Lord. Heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus told a parable about a nobleman whose citizens hated him and sent word: We do not want this man to reign over us. The question is whether that refusal still has the last word.

If God is a God of justice (and He is), then how do we live in a time of injustice? David wrestles with this in the middle of Psalm 7.

David doesn’t ask God to only judge others, but himself, too. How can he do that? Does he believe himself to be above sin? Or is it that his hope isn’t in himself?

Problems pile on until life feels more like a grave than renewed life, and we wonder where God is. The Book of Ruth opens with Naomi back from Moab empty and bitter, renaming herself Mara because the Almighty has dealt harshly with her—still certain God is King, yet unable to see whether that King still loves her. Is there hope when we find ourselves feeling the same way?

As we wait in anticipation we are called to two kinds of peace: the peace of following God’s ways and the peace of knowing His plan will come to fruition.

We’ve all sensed it—a choice that seemed perfect in the moment, but leaves us listing further down the road. Matthew 7:24–27 presents two builders, two houses, nearly identical except for what lies beneath, and asks which foundation will hold when the rains come.

Keeping in mind what is coming can cause us to focus even more on worldly matters, but it shouldn’t. It should help us care more about the world knowing Jesus.

You can confess Jesus as Lord, cast out demons, do mighty works—and still hear him say, “I never knew you.” Matthew 7:21–23 cuts past everything we think proves we’re his followers, asking instead the question that actually matters: Does he know you?

As we look toward the future, there is an urgency mission even as we find ourselves waiting for God’s fulfillment of prophecy. But it requires us to keep our focus.

Our world moves us to ever increasing indifference, but as we pick up in 2 Peter 3, the Apostle calls us to be ready for Jesus’s return.