Are You Ready?
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:13
As an expectant mother, I am asked this question or a variation of it multiple times every day. I would like to say yes, but I know from experience that I will never be completely ready. As I type, my 3-year old is putting his head on my stomach and telling his little sister to come out and play with him. Ah, these moments.
Am I ready? In some ways, I am way past ready to meet this little one and see the interactions between her and her siblings and watch the way her unique personality develops. She’s given us some hints from within. She seems stubborn and resilient already, able to hold her own when the others are clamoring around me.
In other ways, is it ever really possible to be completely ready? Life is going to be upside down as soon as she is born. Change is hard, even when it is a wonderful miracle of a change. While we are preparing for this miraculous change in our family, we also need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.
As we prepare for the coming of the Advocate, Pentecost, we know we need to be ready. Jesus tells us to, “Watch for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Just like an expectant mother knows neither the day nor the hour of the onset of her labor, we do not know when Jesus will return. Therefore, we need to be always watchful, living lives ready to be examined by Him when He returns. Are we worthy? No, we are saved by His Grace on the cross. That does not give us the right to live lives of doing whatever we want. We want to strive to stay close to Him, in prayer and in how we live our lives.
No matter how many times I have already given birth, a certain anxiety and even fear build as the big day looms closer. I begin to anticipate things that could go wrong or the pain that labor and delivery and recovery entails. I know the end result and the beautiful miracle I have been blessed to be a part of. In the days after the resurrection of Jesus and again after His ascension into heaven, the disciples were gathered in the upper room. Although they knew Jesus had risen from the dead and they knew He was coming back, they still feared.
How do we prepare for change? Both unknown and known change can be easier to face with faith, with hope. How do we achieve that? Prayer of course. In Ephesians 6:18 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” Praying for God’s Peace may not take the pain away, but it will help us to feel Him and His peace as we endure it, knowing we are never alone.
Be strong and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
Update: Shortly after starting to type this post, I did in fact go into labor. By the Grace and Mercy of God, our little girl was born last Thursday. She is a beautiful blessing, already adding so much joy to our family.