My Challenge

Let me ask you a question.

March 15th, 2020, do you remember where you were?

Were you in church, sitting with your family, listening to your church family singing, praising, worshiping, and being taught what it means to live a Christian life? I was, taking it all for granted.

What I didn’t expect was that was to be the last time in weeks/months that I would see my small group ladies all gathered,  to sing with one of my music teams, leading the church family in worship. But it was.

Now let me ask you another question, what has this pandemic and its health orders of “stay home”, “social/physical distancing” done for your spiritual walk?

Are you closer, about the same or, drifting away from your Saviour?

Initially, I was thankful for the “break” of the Sunday morning tasks and responsibilities, not having to prepare for class, and all the other hats I wear when it comes to Sunday mornings. Yet, as a couple of weeks passed, I found that I needed more… I was not content with just logging into YouTube or Facebook to watch and listen to multiple church services and messages. Not that the messages and instructions were not valuable, I simply felt a longing within me to dig deeper. To pursue answers to questions that have been simmering in the background from months if not years. In short, I found myself being uncomfortable being dormant and content. I wanted more, to know more, to understand better.

I’ve had to ask myself some hard questions lately, and I’m not proud of the answers, but to quote Rick Warren, “There is no growth without change, no change without fear or loss and no loss without pain.” I wanted to change, had many fears, and still do, but knew and accepted that the journey wasn’t going to be without pain. Some of the questions I’ve been wrestling with are:

• Am I equipped to stand firm under persecution? (I’d like to think so…. But nope!)
• Can I defend my faith? (Again, I’d like to think so, but not fully confident that I could under pressure.)
• Am I ready for Christ’s return? (Yep, but not so sure I’m ready to stand before the judgement seat and answer for the things I did or didn’t do.)
• Is that soon or do I still have time? (This led to a deep dive into Prophecy studying and endless hours of reading, watching, listening and, discussions. I don’t have an answer, obviously because I’m not God. (See Matthew 24:36, and 42))
• Why have I been content with living a life in a holding pattern clinging to the comfort that when Christ returns to gather His church to meet Him in the sky? (Answer: I was happy with the quick answer… I have a life insurance policy for eternity. No more pain, tears, perfection. Tuned out when scripture told us of having to stand before Christ and answer for our obedience. Let’s just say I have a new-found understanding of the purpose and wisdom of Christ’s parable teachings.)

As stated, I’m not proud of the answers, but I’m committed to changing those answers, everything today points to our daily lives not becoming any easier as a follower of Christ, but harder and harder.

Now let me ask you, are you looking up in anticipation of Christ’s return? Do you know the signs? Are you ready for the Judgement described in 1 Corinthians 3:13 and 2 Corinthians 5:10?

What nagging questions have you been wrestling with? What’s the Spirit burdening you to step out in faith and act upon?

If this post has caused you to think about these same questions or perhaps you’ve had similar questions, I’d like to invite you to join me this fall as I lead a light, but an informative study on the end times called “The Non-Prophet’s Guide to the End-Times” by Todd Hampson. Keep an eye on church announcements and emails for more details as we quickly approach our Fall Launch date of September 13th, 2020.

In conclusion, I’m challenged by the writer of Hebrews, to spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – all the more as you see the Day approaching.