Poetry

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The sky does not consult us
before it darkens.
Clouds gather without permission,
wind bends the trees,
and somewhere beyond what we can measure
a trumpet waits to sound.

History moves like a river toward an unseen sea.
Empires rise with iron declarations,
markets swell, wars ignite,
voices argue over signs and seasons,
as though prophecy were a puzzle
meant to flatter our intellect.

But the horizon is not asking
for speculation.

It waits.

There was a cradle once,
quiet straw and borrowed shelter,
a Child wrapped in humility.
He came then without spectacle,
without sword,
without the applause of kings.

He will not come the same way again.

The heavens will open
not as a whisper
but as a revelation.
Light will not negotiate with darkness.
The Rider will not ask for permission.
The Faithful and True
will appear as certainty itself,
and every shadow will learn its limits.

The earth trembles even now
in its longing.
Creation leans forward,
groaning for the unveiling,
for the moment when injustice expires
and mercy stands vindicated.

We busy ourselves with calendars,
with headlines,
with rumors dressed as revelation.
We measure earthquakes
and align nations on maps,
as though the Kingdom were charted
by geopolitics.

Yet the question is not
what is happening out there.

The question is
what is happening in here.

Are our lamps trimmed?
Is oil stored in the hidden places?
Have we forgiven as we were forgiven?
Have we bowed where pride once stood?
Is He Lord of the inconvenient rooms,
or only the public halls of our confession?

The day and the hour
remain veiled,
held in the wisdom of the Father.
Time itself keeps its secret.
But secrecy does not imply uncertainty.

It is not a question of if.

It is a question of when.

And when He comes
the sky will not be mistaken for anything else.
The King will not resemble rumor.
The sound will not echo with ambiguity.

Those who are ready
will not shrink back in dread.
They will lift their heads.
They will feel the weight of glory
as joy rather than terror.

They will say,
This is the day we hoped for.
This is the Promise arriving.
This is the Faithful One keeping covenant.

So make ready.

Not with fear,
but with faith.
Not with frantic calculation,
but with surrendered hearts.
Not with charts,
but with holiness.

For while we do not know the day or the hour,
the horizon is certain.

And when He comes,
those who are ready
can rejoice
and be glad in it.

By Rick McGrath, Ph.D.
March 2026~

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