As you traveled in the family car as a youngster, do you remember asking your parents the age-old questions, "Are we there yet? How long till we get there?" Your parents may have responded, "Oh, five more minutes."
After a few more miles and what seemed like a lot more waiting, your questions turned to pestering. Again, you asked, "How much longer?"
"Hold on," came the reply from the front seat. "It'll just be five more minutes."
Indignantly, you responded, "But you said that 10 minutes ago!"
The similarities between this familiar family scenario and one of the great questions of biblical prophecy invite us to explore what is found in Revelation 6:9-10. In these verses, Christ opens the fifth seal, which signifies the coming Great Tribulation. As He does so, the martyred saints symbolically cry out, asking, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
The earnest question in this apocalyptic vision mirrors the intense inquisitiveness of God's people down through the ages. We all want to know, When will we get there? How much longer until the Kingdom of God arrives, in all its fullness and glory? In verse 11, the answer comes. The saints are told that "they should rest a little while longer."
We can't know the answer to the question of how long we will travel this road of faith. What we can come to understand, however, is the way in which we are to move forward in this life. We have some work to do. We might call it "heart work."
Being spiritually realistic
As the timeless echo of "How long, O Lord?" reverberates through our hearts during our challenging moments, there is one thing we must remember. We must be sure that we understand that part of our "heart work" is to be spiritually realistic about our calling from God.
