Christians endure because they know what they wait for—the Lord's return.

Jesus cried from the cross, "It is finished." Yes, his suffering for our sins was done, accomplished, complete, just as foretold in the Old Testament. His tomb was empty on Easter morning. Death was also overcome completely. Because he lives, so will we.

Then Jesus ascended and left his followers behind. He gave them instructions to make disciples as they went about their daily tasks, to pray, to watch, to avoid anything that would rob them of the treasures he had accomplished, to wait, to feed both lambs and sheep. The list is even longer.

One more thing while we wait—he wanted his believers to prepare a new generation of believers to carry on after they departed. He promised to return, but the wait would not be short. Many generations have come and gone in the past two thousand years. Christian waiting has always stretched past generational barriers.

While we wait for the Lord to return, we do what the Lord asks of us. The problems we face challenge us: a recession of members, an evaporation of financial resources, fewer children to train and carry the gospel to a new generation, rising costs, growing apathy, and increased opposition to the gospel. It's no wonder we think that we are living in the end times and that the Lord's return is imminent.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the problems and our feeble solutions that we miss the wonder of the Lord's care of his little flock in this world. Sit in God's house and notice the church of Jesus—the people who have come to treasure Jesus and wait for him to come again.

Older Christians populate the roster of many visible churches. Some of them are sick and dying. Others are waiting to be called home. Look around and you will notice more than one widow who soldiers on alone waiting for the day when the Lord will come and end her lonely journey. You don't have to look too far to find the husband whose wife died of cancer. If you look carefully in his face you can see the sadness that has now become his companion. Another look around the church reveals those with heavy hearts, carrying serious burdens of all kinds.

The younger Christians are in God's house too. They bring their children to hear the words of Jesus so that those children will join them in the courts of heaven. They worry about the possibility that their children or those of others will fall away. They have other challenges too.

But they all come to hear the gospel, to worship, and to receive the Lord's body and blood while they wait for their permanent home to come. They endure because they know what they wait for—the Lord's return.