The news comes on. Five minutes into the broadcast, you recognize the signs. Jesus is coming back soon. This has to be the end. It can’t possibly get much worse! In fact, wouldn’t it be great for Him to return right this minute? Let’s go!
Then, the realization hits that many generations have felt this same way. That doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t coming soon, but it does remind us that we don’t know when that will be. He told us that He would return as a thief in the night. We might want to escape the ugliness of the news or the struggles in our lives. We want to be free from physical and emotional pain, out from under our burdens, and protected from sin. We desperately want to see Jesus and reunite with our loved ones. But it is His perfect timeline, not ours.
Unfortunately, that dynamic can create an ostrich effect; we bury our heads in the sand and give up being “in the world.” Why should we bother? We can more easily accomplish not being “of the world” if we aren’t in it!
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” —Galatians 6:9
That is not God’s plan for us, however. He reminds us repeatedly not to be afraid and to keep engaging in the world to share the good news that there is hope in Jesus. When rooted in that, we will continue to grow, and our efforts will bear fruit.
World War II hero Desmond Doss gave us an excellent example of this when he described his prayer as he dodged bullets: “I was praying the whole time. I just kept praying, ‘Lord, please help me get one more’ and with the world so set on tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.”
Every day, we have a chance to reach just one more. And, when God ordains it, we will reap a harvest. Let’s not give up.