My dear late auntie Sheila once had a vision of Jesus standing at the foot of her bed. She was overwhelmed with awe and wonder. He said to her: "I am coming soon". In the book of Revelation the words "I am coming soon!" occur four times, yet 2000 years later his people are still eagerly awaiting his coming. The Bible ends with his words: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". God lives in the eternal now and so should we.

Throughout his life, a beloved pastor and spiritual father to me became increasingly fixated on the belief that the prophecies in Revelation are an inspired forecast of the whole of human history. He tried hard to work it all out. In the end, he deeply regretted having wasted so much time in this way. He concluded it had all been an unfruitful distraction.

What happened when John gazed at his vision of Jesus (Rev 1:12-18)? He fell on his face as though dead, but immediately, Jesus placed his right hand on him (the hand of authority, affirmation, love and recommissioning) and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I died, but look – I am alive forever and ever!" John was not to be paralysed with fear, but propelled into action by awe and wonder.

When Isaiah had a vision of God in the Temple his immediate response was: "Woe is me! I am ruined! I am struck dumb!" (Isa 6:1-9). But God immediately allayed his fears and sent him out to prophecy to his people.

Consider this carefully: John had the closest and most intimate relationship with Jesus. He knew Jesus loved him deeply. They were the best of friends. He was present at the cross and witnessed his suffering, but this vision was something completely different. He had known Jesus as the Son of Man in his perfect humanity. Now he was seeing Him in his supremely powerful divinity and his immediate and unthinking reaction was to fall at his feet as though dead – in weakness, exhaustion and inadequacy.

There is only one "don't" when we fall down before Jesus in absolute surrender. "Don't be afraid". Every step of the way, his grace empowers us. As the ex-slave trader John Newton put it in his hymn "Amazing Grace": "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace that fear relieved."

Isaiah wrote: "The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me … 'The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary'" (Is 8:14). How wonderful!

• We may have responded to Jesus' invitation to come to him and find rest.

• We may have come to his cross to receive forgiveness and wept tears of gratitude.

• But have we fallen at his feet before his throne in awe and wonder and in total surrender? Let's refuse to be discouraged by the current state of the world. Let's declare with all our heart that our King Jesus reigns!