When waiting for Jesus takes long

It is now over 2 000 years since the first coming of Jesus Christ. When He was leaving the earth, Jesus promised to come back to take righteous people. Since that time, people have been repenting their sins so that they should be among those to sing and enjoy with Jesus Christ in Heaven.

But when will Jesus Christ really return on earth? Will He really come again considering the many years people have waited for Him? One of the committed Christians in Mwanza, Symon Banda, says some Christians are losing hope and patience on the second coming of Jesus.

Says Banda: “Of course, I am a Christian who is spiritually eager to set my feet in Heaven. Since I was a child in the 1970s, I have been hearing and reading about Jesus’ second coming.  But the waiting is taking too long, making me wonder whether the second coming of Jesus is real. I wish He could come now because most of the people, including me, are eager to enter Heaven.”

Banda suggests that Jesus was supposed to be communicating to His representatives—pastors, reverends and prophets.

“Since some of us are now losing hope that Jesus will come again, it is important if He could be communicating through pastors, reverends and prophets about when exactly He will come. Otherwise people who repented their sins are now tempted to fall into sin again. This is not good spiritually,” says Banda.

On the loss of hope, Mzimba-based Pauline Mwangonde agrees with Banda, saying it is becoming difficult for people to maintain their hope of Jesus coming. Mwangonde adds that many Christians across the world are eagerly waiting for Jesus; hence, it would be better if He could come now.

“To prove that people want Him, some people have forced themselves to predict His coming. There have been predictions about dates of Jesus’ second coming. Unfortunately, all the predictions have not been true. Those who make these predictions are men of God. This is confusing and unfortunate. We should wait until when? It could be better if we knew the truth about his second coming,” says Mwangonde.

Indeed, the message about the second coming started long time ago, no wonder people are worried. The second coming of Jesus is one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian Church. The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD wrote: “He [Jesus] will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”

But if people start losing hope and returning to their sinful lives, will Jesus really find righteous people? It is becoming doubtful! Pastor Francis Kapheni of Dedza Assemblies of God agrees with both Banda and Mwangonde that waiting is painful.

“Even when a bus takes long to come to pick you, you start worrying and losing patience,” Pastor Kapheni says.

But pastor Kapheni assures Christians not to worry, instead, they should strengthen their faith on the second coming of God’s son.

He says there is no justification from Christians to worry about Jesus’ delayed second coming.

“These worries from Christians are not justifiable. And there is danger when they turn back to their sinful past because Jesus may come even tomorrow. Furthermore, if such people die today, it means they will die with sins and they don’t have a place in Heaven,” says pastor Kapheni.

He adds that Christians should take Jesus’ delayed second coming as their opportunity to spread the gospel so that other people should receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Interestingly, Banda seems not convinced with Pastor Kapheni’s words. He says he even doubts that Jesus really said He would come again.

“Now, I believe that Jesus went forever and that He will not return,” Banda insists.

Perhaps, people like Banda can be convinced that there will really be the second coming of Jesus by reading before them Hebrews 3:3, which assures people that the words about Salvation really came from God and people should keep on waiting. The verse reads: “This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.”

Bible continues telling people to repent because salvation is now nearer than before. Roman 13:11 states: “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”