How many of us, when going through a particularly hard time, have thought I wish the Lord would come back and take us all away? I don't have a death wish or anything, but I've thought how great it would be if Jesus would come back and we'd spend the rest of eternity just worshipping God with out all the troubles of life. Well, I was sitting in church Sunday evening reading and letting my mind wander. I know, I know, I was supposed to be listening to the Pastor, but I was flipping pages in my Bible and happened to come across a passage that if I had read before, I had forgotten. It is not a book I go to frequently, but for some reason it caught my eye this time. The heading in my NIV Bible simply says "The Day of the Lord." I think that may have been why I paused. The passage is found in Amos Chapter 5, verse 18 and following. It starts out v. 18 "Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord." I thought wait a minute, we all look forward to the day of the Lord when things will be much better for us. Right?? The next part says "Why do you long for the day of the Lord?" I would think that would be obvious with the way the world seems to be. Then it says "that day will be darkness, not light." That's not what we want to hear. I have pondered this passage since stumbling across it. For the Christian it will be a wonderful time, when Jesus comes and we're caught up in the sky with him. It will be grand for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord of our lives as gather around the throne and worship the one who created us and saved us. Although for those who don't know Christ as their personal savior it will be a very dark time. It will be a time of great sorrow, not rejoicing for those souls. It made me think how selfish I have been at times wanting my trivial trials to end while there are so many not ready for "the day of the Lord." I need to ask God to help me through the hard times and do my part to pray and ask God how he can use me in reaching those who are not ready. I don't know if any of this makes sense, just some thoughts.