Perhaps today are the words that drummed in my head like a heartbeat at 2:15 this morning and rolled me out of bed by 2:50. Now, here I sit at 2:58 with my laptop and a word of encouragement for you.
I encountered those two words the other day when I ran across a note still hanging around my house after Christmas. It was only me happening upon the note again that those two words, perhaps today, stood out to me. Beccy had written them just after she assured me that she would be watching for Jesus in Oregon and charged me with keeping watch in Tennessee.
I only know Beccy because of my articles here on Rapture Ready. Several years ago, she sent an encouraging email after an article I published here. Then, later, she joined a Zoom group I hosted. Not so coincidentally, she is with me once again for a ladies’ group study on Zoom. Isn’t it interesting how her watching in Oregon and me watching and writing in Tennessee have joined two watchers across the nation and formed a sisterhood? We few watchers have become a necessary community over the past few years. That’s a divine happening.
We know as weary watchers that every day we wake up is perhaps the day we will see our blessed hope, and still another day that keeps us casting our eyes upward to the sky with longing. Many perhaps-today days have come and gone, and still we wait. Some days, rather than looking up at the sky, we mostly set our eyes on the horizon and watch as the tribulation gets so close we can nearly hear the hoofbeats.
Daily, the blessed hope of our rescue is fueled by our desire to escape the escalating evil, and rightly so. We live in a jack-in-the-box world, listening to the tune with tension ever growing, waiting for “POP! Goes the Weasel.” Will the dollar crash today? Will we see the beginning of World War III? Will we experience attacks on our homeland? How soon will AI take over? The ups and downs of emotions while watching can give us spiritual whiplash if we’re not grounded in our faith.
Grounded is the perfect word I hadn’t even expected to encounter as I typed. The Lord just dropped it onto the page. But it well expresses what He has been showing me lately. Though Jesus may perhaps come today, until He does, there’s still ground to be tilled and seeds to be planted. A productive farmer doesn’t spend his day gawking up at the sky or scanning the horizon. No, he remains grounded, head down and hand to the plow, with the occasional look up or out.
Our hope of the rapture is a daily hope, even a minute-by-minute hope, but our call remains. We are to be found giving “them their food at the proper time” (Matthew 24:45) when Jesus does come. We can be found watching and waiting while still working, whatever our work is. Right this minute, I have hope that perhaps today He will come, but even with that hope, maybe even especially because of that hope, I sit here at 3:48 in the morning writing. I want to encourage you to watch the sky with enthusiasm and anticipation, but not with obsession. Scan the horizon with discernment, but don’t allow the darkness of world events to keep you distracted or overshadow your calling. Fix your eyes on Jesus rather than being fixated on this world.
I’ve had them myself, days when I saw less of the ground than the sky or horizon. It’s a constant struggle to live and work and serve in the here and now while longing for the then and there of heaven. Until that trumpet blast sounds, though, and we’re snatched away to a wedding, our earth-bound souls have grounds to till, seeds to sow, and fields to harvest. Whatever your ground, whether at work or home or church, cultivate it well, cast your seed far, and pray to the Lord for harvest. As you toil each day, stop and wipe your brow, look up at the sky as you say, “perhaps today,” then return to your head-down-and-hand-to-the-plow position. May we all be found faithfully doing our part, whatever that may be, in giving them their food at the proper time.
And now, at 4:35, with my seed cast your way, may I be found getting a little more sleep. 😉
Blessings,
Lisa
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For the ladies out there of all ages and stages:
You can never go wrong learning more about God’s infinite and intimate love for you. If you are interested in a free online You. Are. Loved. book and the free study to go with it, you can find out more and watch the trailer here.