What are you waiting for?

Schedules are cleared. Activities and meetings are canceled. Distractions are closed. Gatherings are nil.

You were waiting for free time. You were waiting for a vacation. You were waiting until the season was over and for the company to leave.

Excuses are gone and restraints no longer exist. You have time on your hands and you wonder how not to waste it.

The Bible remains dusty. That journal still sits in its wrapper. The pens are sealed in a box. That devotional is stiff. All these things lay in waste upon a shelf, longing for the day that your calendar lies bare. But… that calendar is bare while you sit thinking about how to fill your time now that the business of life has abruptly come to a halt.

How are we to endure through trying times? When we’re stuck in a loop of waiting, are we abiding in the truth of our faith or seeking a way out through the consensus of the secular world? Do we binge watch the worldly desires of fakeness we see on our apps or screens? Do we fall victim to virtual arguments, conspiracies or mistruths? Are we to lose ourselves to hours of mindless video games? Is over indulgence of meats, sweets ad treats making excuses for our loneliness and newly found way of life?

Friends in Christ, don’t waste your life on excuses. Loved ones, seek out the truth in the situation that you find yourself. Is God surprised by the ways of the world or the crisis we find ourselves in? No. Is He longing for us to draw near to Him in our time of need? Yes. There’s no time like the present to set aside all of our excuses and spend time in communion with Our Father God.

Revelation 14:12 ESV

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

It is time that we look at ourselves in the mirror and call for endurance. As always, rely on the Lord and He will see you through. All of our trials, the chaos, and sickness will end. We will come out stronger and more resilient in the end.

I have four children. They have lived in 12 houses, and moved across the country and ocean six times. They have been through five deployments and more than a two- thirds of their lives without their dad home. Recitals, sporting events, camp-outs, advancement ceremonies, surgeries, vacations, health issues, births, deaths are just some of the things that their dad has missed as well as grandparents and friends. Do they give up? Is their faith in the Lord lost or weakened? Do they fight against the tide of society and give in? They “never give up, never give in.” <– that’s the motto from their dad’s last war ship.

They are resilient. We can all learn a very strong lesson in faith from these four children.

Be resilient. The time is now to move in your faith. Dust off your Bible. Put your hands together in prayer. Sing worship songs to the Lord. You will endure.