“It ever seem to you,” I asked Stan one morning, “that things just seem to be going from bad to worse?”
“Sure does seem that way,” he replied. “And it looks to me like that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“It’s supposed to be that way?” I asked. “Why?”
“That’s the way God planned it,” Stan replied. “The Bible has a lot to say about that.”
“Well,” I said, “if that’s true, what am I supposed to do about it? Am I just supposed to sit around and watch things fall apart as they go from bad to worse knowing there’s nothing I can do about it because it’s God’s plan?”
“I don’t think so,” Stan responded. “Seems to me that Jesus covered that when He was talking about that we are to be salt and light.”
“Salt and light?”
“Yeah,” Stan replied. “Big subject. One we can’t cover in a day. It takes a lifetime. It seems to me that’s what discipleship is all about.”
“But,” I said, “if God’s plan is for things to get worse what’s the point of going out of my way to try to do anything about it?”
“Did someone go out of the way to tell you the truth so you could be saved?” Stan asked.
“Well, yeah, someone did,” I said.
“Did that ‘someone’ make a difference in your eternal destination even though the world is falling apart?”
“Yes,” I said.
“You see the connection?”
“I do,” I replied. “Just because the world is going from bad to worse, we don’t all have to go with it. There’s a better way.”
“And a better place!” Stan said with a smile.
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Bible verses to consider:
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
You are the salt of the earth; but if if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. Matthew 5:13.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck measure, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Mathew 5:14-15.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for those people you brought into my life to tell me the truth of your free and gracious provision of life eternally with you when my time here is completed. Thank you, too, for the truth of how the world will behave as the time approaches for Jesus’ return. I confess that too often I do not tell others of your provision so they can know and live the truth by being salt and light for the ever-darkening world. Please forgive me and please help me follow every step of your lead in telling others all you have for them to know about living in this world the way you intend as they await living eternally with you. (As they wait for the train!) Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Have you accepted God’s free and gracious provision of life eternally with Him when your time here is completed so you have that to anticipate regardless of what’s going on in the world? If no, why? If you have accepted God’s provision for when you step into eternity, how are you doing on this side in telling others so they will know that they don’t have to just accept that the world is going from bad to worse? Are you doing as well as you would like? As well as God would like? If you sense the need for change, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 