The Lord is at hand.

You should not be shocked when I tell you that today I am going to disagree with a Biblical Commentary. It sounds like something I would do.
Will do.
Probably will continue doing.
My father always says, “Be like the Bereans; don’t ever take any pastor or book at its word; you must always check it against Scripture. You are called to test the spirits.” This is a practice I continue, and really, you should too.
ESPECIALLY when you read my stuff. Yeah, I may have been around the block a few times, but that doesn’t mean anything. Really, not anything. Just because someone has experience doesn’t mean they are right or have the correct view of those experiences. Remember that.
Be like a Berean (Acts 17:11).
That being said, I was doing a little sleuthing today; fact checking, if you will.

A few weeks ago I was really ministered to by this passage in Philippians. None of you will be receiving these verses with new ears, I am sure. It’s possibly one of the most quoted passages of Scripture, which in general usually steers me very far away. I confess, I have a bad attitude about popular verses; maybe it’s a prideful tendency in wanting to claim that all of these totally obscure passages are “really what should be quoted more, for they are the verses with true richness,” as opposed to all of those “common” verses. I can’t believe I am admitting this, but whenever I see a sermon going to be preached on something so “normal” as Philippians I can feel myself start to roll my eyes and have a sense in my head of “Yeah, yeah, been there, done that. Can we grow up now? Can we move past this?”

Oh goodness sakes. How have I fallen so far?!?!
It’s one of my many issues, trust me. I’m trying to work on it.

So in contrast to this typical disdain for anything that everybody else likes, I was reading Philippians a few weeks ago and came to the beloved chapter 4.

Verses 5-7 were somehow really impactful that night. It must have been the Holy Spirit.
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

That little line, which I think gets overlooked most times, is what stung me:

                The Lord is at hand.

It made perfect sense to me that night. Why can we not be anxious? Because the Lord is at hand. Why can we have peace which defies reality? Because the Lord is at hand. Why can we be thankful? Because the Lord is at hand. Why can we have an evident gentleness? Because the Lord is at hand.

Beth Moore, in her study on the fruit of the Spirit, makes the claim that gentleness BOWS. Throughout the scripture, she says, it is always in correlation with bowing your will to Gods. It’s a laying down of rights, a submitting, a bowing.
With that in mind, it adds another layer to this little passage. Why can we bow our will to some “far-off” God (as some skeptics will ask us)?
Because he isn’t far off. He is at hand. He’s right here. Right next to my hand. It’s not hard bowing our plans, our will, our ideas about how things should go to a God who is right there.

To me it was obvious: everything is manageable, everything is calmer, everything will be ok. Why?

Because the Lord is at hand.
Isn’t that such a sweet comfort? He knows what’s going on. Somehow being assured of that is enough.

But now I have to get to the point where I disagree with the Bible commentaries.

I had been all happy, thinking about the Lord being near, when I looked down at the little notes in my study Bible and it said something about how the Lord being at hand (or as some versions say “Near”) means that his next coming is imminent. As in at the door, right around the corner, going to happen soon, the time is near….at hand.

I don’t like that interpretation very much. It ruins my comfort, at first thought.

Don’t get me wrong! It’s not the subject matter I don’t like. We’re Christians; the second coming of Christ is the reason we live; it’s our deadline, our goal, our motivation to keep going today. And I could get all into End Times prophecy, but I’m not going to. I have decided thoughts and opinions, but really, we have to hold these beliefs with open hands because…well…we’re talking about the future. So, as my father also says, “I’m a Pan-Millenialist: It will all pan out in the end.” Which is kind of where I drop the issue.

But I will not balk on the fact that Christ is coming again. No way. I will be stubborn stubborn stubborn on that claim.
Why? Because he said he is coming again. Which is where I am stopping in this post.

So my study notes said that this little Philippians verse was about the second coming, and they gave me some cross references to Romans, James, Revelation. All good verses. All in the context of passages speaking of the second-coming.

There was something in me, though, that said, “I don’t think they are right about this.”
Which led me to use my Berean skills. And Google.
Ha.
Actually, I went to the Greek text. I figured if I was going to find out what that word meant, I should read it in its original language.

Interestingly enough, the word there for “near” or “at hand” has two meanings. Yes, the one meaning is “Of times imminent and soon to come to pass,” but it also means “Near, of place and position. Those who are near access to God.” Now there are a lot of places in the New Testament where that particular word is used to say, pretty much, “Coming attractions,” but there are also quite a few instances where it means close, as in proximity (For example, see Romans 10:8, Ephesians 2:13, 17).

Also curious, is that the verses my study Bible had me cross reference, while it contained the English word “near,” the Greek word is not the same. No. AND, like I said, all of those particular verses are in context of talks about Christ’s return for his bride, whereas this Philippians passage is not, or not nearly as explicit as the other passages.

Which, ergo, leads me to believe that claiming outright that “The Lord is at hand” can only be about his second coming, I find not entirely believable. For, where there is one deviant to the rule (and in the case of this particular Greek word there are many), then you can no longer claim it an absolute.

Why is any of this of any importance, you might ask?

Because I think we might be missing out on a blessing if we only view it through one lens.

Can this verse be about the second coming of Christ? Sure. I am no trained scholar.
Could it not be? Sure. I am no trained scholar.
And then I have to ask myself the question, because I am no trained scholar, “What if it could mean both? What implications would that have?”

As I said earlier, if it means “in proximity” then it is a great comfort. There is no situation we get into, nothing we start panicking about, no stress where we cannot be calmed down simply by saying to ourselves, “Don’t worry, you can bow your will. The Lord is at hand. Don’t be anxious, talk to him about it, the Lord is at hand.”

And if it is about his second coming? Then it is a great comfort, too. There is no situation we get into, nothing we start panicking about, no stress where we cannot be calmed down simply by saying to ourselves, “Don’t worry, you can bow your will- his will will prevail; he is at hand. Don’t be anxious, talk to him about it, his timing is perfect, and he is at hand.”

Funny. I just said the same thing, didn’t I? Yet, it has two completely different meanings. It’s like, “The Lord is at hand,” so we are a day closer to him than we were yesterday, and therefore we can get through all of our todays because “The Lord is at hand,”—he is right here, right now.

 And maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s also like “I can let my gentleness be evident by bowing my will to God’s, because he is right here, right by my hand, right now, and because he is coming soon, he will not delay forever. And I can stop being anxious about things, I can talk to him about all of it, because he is right here, right by my hand, right now, and because he is coming soon, he will not delay forever. And all of these things that complicate my life, stress my life, make me panic about my life, well, when he comes—when “near” is finally now—he will make it all right, since he will then…continue to be at hand, like right here, right by my hand, right now, forever.”

My prayer then for you, for me, is that every day we would grow nearer to him as his second coming is coming nearer to us.

Don’t be anxious, Wolfies. Let your gentleness be evident, Wolfies.
How can we live like this, some might ask? Because the Lord is at hand.