As the signs of the times begin to gather around the Church and manifest the coming of the Lord, we need to wisely interpret what we are seeing. We should never be so captured by the signs themselves that we are led astray into a narrow understanding of what we see happening.

Both the signs of the times and the timing of those events require that we constantly adjust our expectations to align with Scripture. No matter how long we have walked with the Lord or the level of theological education we attain, what happens will not be what we had expected.

As the Lord shared about His coming, He said, “Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:40). Being made ready for that time is the result of an interior work of the heart accomplished by the Spirit. It does not come from the fulfillment of our misguided expectations.

The word “expect” is translated as “to be of an opinion, to think or suppose something to be true.” Our expectations about the future are both powerful and dangerous. They are powerful for those who do not move beyond the boundary of Scripture. It is dangerous when our imagination is not tethered to the truth of God’s word, especially when the truth appears too narrow to provide an absolute meaning.

The Lord said this about His return, “However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36). It is in this place of not knowing every detail about the future where we can deepen our trust in God to fulfill His promises. That deepened trust will not take place when we have been led to believe we have everything that will happen in the future figured out to the very last detail.