Our faith can be reduced to a point where we no longer expect God to do something amazing in the cosmos that would dramatically change our world. We can accept dogmatic interpretations of the end of time that remove the possibility of cosmos-shifting events occurring that will disrupt our current understanding of the end of time.

When Joshua was fighting against an accumulation of kings and their opposing armies, he prayed a very bold and unusual prayer. “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon” (Joshua 10:12). The event happened just as Joshua prayed, “So the sun stood still, and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies” (vs. 13). Scripture describes that day, “There has never been a day like this before or since when the Lord answered such a prayer” (vs. 14).

What if we were part of the crowd listening as Joshua prayed his prayer? Would we think he was having an emotional meltdown or had lost his mind? What about interpreting the words of Jesus in Mark 13 where the Lord said, “At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (vs 24-25). Have we been led to explain away those coming cosmic events and place them in the past, not the future? The word “Then” is important. “Then” after such a cosmic shake-up, “everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory” (vs. 25).  Our absolutes must be limited to God and His love. Those are the essentials of our faith. The rest of what we confidently declare as reality must be held with an open hand.

While some of the events described in Mark 13 apply to what happened in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, other events require a future context for fulfillment. This is not an either/or text. It describes a both/and series of events that will come. 

As Jesus was wrapping up His description of the events in Mark 13, He said, “You too, must keep watch” (vs. 35). We need to be like those in the audience of Joshua’s prayer hearing about something that would happen that had never happened before. We need to prepare ourselves to expect that God will step outside the confined box of our limited understanding. In that out-of-the-box posture, we will keep our faith open to events that, when they happen, will bring undeniable attention to Him and His message.

Looking for wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes in various parts of the world is only part of our discernment. When the sun, moon, and stars are visibly shaken in a way that history has never seen before, those events will be used to announce the coming of the Lord. We need to prepare ourselves to live through such times by focusing on the Lord as the events take place and not allowing the manifestation of those events and their accompanying fear to cripple our faith. That posture will keep our faith intact and on point and not become paralyzed when something other-worldly happens.