While we wait

There is a tension that every believer lives with. We know that Jesus is coming again. We believe it. We sing about it. We pray for it. And yet, life continues. Monday arrives. Bills come due. Neighbors frustrate us. News cycles churn. And somewhere in the space between the promise of His return and the reality of our daily lives, we have to figure out how to actually live.

That question is not a new one. In the early church, some believers in Thessalonica became so consumed with the anticipation of Christ's return that they stopped working altogether. They figured, why bother? He is coming soon. What followed was predictable. Idle hands led to idle minds, and idle minds led to meddling in everyone else's business. The Apostle Paul had to step in and remind them that waiting for the Lord does not mean disengaging from life. It means living with even greater intentionality.

Romans 13 gives us a remarkably practical framework for doing exactly that. It answers the question: while we wait, how should we live? Three compelling answers emerge from the text, and together they paint a picture of a life that is both grounded and purposeful.

Submit to Those in Authority
The first answer may be the most uncomfortable one. Paul instructs every person to be subject to governing authorities, grounding this command in a striking theological claim: there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. That is a statement that challenges us, especially when we look at the governments of our world and find them deeply flawed.

But understanding what Paul means requires a careful distinction. God did not design every specific form of government, whether democracy, monarchy, or otherwise. What God established is the institution of governing authority itself, the very concept that human society needs order, accountability, and law. Just as marriage is a God-ordained institution that human beings can distort and damage, government is a God-ordained institution that mankind can corrupt. The problem is never the institution. The problem is always us.

This means that when we resist the idea of governing authority altogether, we are resisting something God put in place for our good. Government, at its best, protects the innocent and restrains evil. It provides the kind of social order within which communities can flourish.

Paul also calls believers to render respect and honor to those in positions of leadership. This does not require us to agree with every policy or admire every individual. There is an important distinction between respecting the position and approving of the person. Respect acknowledges the authority of the office. Honor governs the way we speak about and treat the person who holds it, even when we disagree with them, even in private conversations, even online.

There are, of course, limits. When Peter and John were commanded by the Sanhedrin to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, they responded with a question that cuts to the heart of the matter: should we obey you rather than God? You must judge. When human authority demands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, the believer's allegiance to God takes precedence. Daniel continued praying three times a day with his window open, fully aware of the consequences, because his obedience to God superseded his compliance with a king's decree. But these are exceptions, not excuses. The general posture of the believer toward governing authority is one of respectful submission.

Love the People Around You
The second call is one that never expires. Paul writes that we are to owe no one anything except to love each other, because the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. He lists several commandments, including prohibitions against adultery, murder, stealing, and coveting, and then draws them all together under a single principle from Leviticus: love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

What makes this both beautiful and demanding is Paul's choice of the word agape, the self-giving, sacrificial love that does not wait for the right feelings before it acts. Genuine agape love does not depend on emotions in order to act lovingly. This is not the love of a good mood or a warm feeling. It is a commitment that holds even when the other person is difficult, hurtful, or undeserving.

Here is a liberating truth: the problem is never a shortage of love. The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and there is no end to that supply. When we struggle to love someone, the issue is not that we have run out. The issue is that something is blocking the flow. Self-interest, pride, hurt, and bitterness can clog the channel. The solution is not to ask God for more love. It is to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow what is already there to move freely.

Jesus said that the world would know His disciples by their love for one another. That is a sobering standard. It means that love is not optional for the believer. It is the primary evidence of our identity.

Live Like Time Is Short
The third call is perhaps the most urgent. Paul writes that the hour has come to wake from sleep, that salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is at hand. He urges believers to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, to walk properly, and to make no provision for the flesh.

The last days began at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was nearly two thousand years ago. Every day that passes brings us closer to the moment when the trumpet sounds. We do not know the day or the hour, as Jesus made clear in Matthew 24. But we know the season. And knowing the season should shape the way we live.

If we truly believe that His return is imminent, that belief ought to be visible in our choices, our conversations, our priorities, and the way we treat the people around us. The question worth sitting with is this: if we knew He was coming tomorrow, would we live differently today? And if the answer is yes, then what is stopping us from living that way right now?

We are waiting. But we are not waiting passively. We are waiting with purpose, with love, and with our eyes wide open.