Waking Up in An Empty Bed

I woke up from a very deep sleep the other day. I must have fallen asleep the night before and slept very soundly (which is very rare for me).

My mind was confused; I didn’t know what day it was or what time it was.

And I realized that the bed was empty; Cathy was gone; and it was frightening.

My mind was even more confused as I tried even harder to figure out what day it was or what time it was.

In my head, I heard an old song by Larry Norman called “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”

       A man and wife asleep in bed
       She hears a noise and turns her head he's gone
       I wish we’d all been ready…

       There's no time to change your mind
       The Son has come and you've been left behind…

My mind was even MORE confused as I tried even harder to answer what day it was or what time it was and where Cathy really was at. Was she really gone? Was I left behind?

Suddenly I was fully awakened as I heard our pickup truck start up; Cathy was leaving for work…which meant that it was Friday sometime around six in the morning. A quick look at the clock on the dresser confirmed that it was five minutes before six o’clock in the morning.

I must have really been tired after a full day (Thursday).

As I made the bed, the song continued in my head:

       A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
       I wish we’d all been ready…

I went downstairs to pour a cup of coffee to awaken the remaining part of my brain.

The song continued to play in my head:

       Two men walking up a hill
       One disappears and one’s left standing still
       I wish we’d all been ready…

I sat down in my favorite chair in our living room (with my cup of coffee) and read Matthew 24:36-44; which is what the song is referring to.

In the passage Jesus states:

³⁶ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.⁴⁴ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

I read the entity of chapters 24 and 25 to meditate on Jesus’ words telling us what to expect as one day this world as we know it comes to an end.

For the record, I’m not one who spends most days thinking about or discussing eschatology (the study of end times), BUT that doesn’t say that it isn’t important.

One day this world will end and I hope that we’ll all be ready. It’s no fun waking up in an empty bed; in fact, it’s frightening and confusing!

Not sure where you are at if He were to return today? Call 1-888-NEED-HIM for more assistance. Or drop me a line at pastortommyoestreich@gmail.com

Pastor Tommy O, River of Hope Ministries

  

“I Wish We'd All Been Ready” by Larry Norman

Life was filled with guns and war
And all of us got trampled on the floor
I wish we’d all been ready
The children died, the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish we’d all been ready

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

A man and wife asleep in bed
She hears a noise and turns her head he's gone
I wish we’d all been ready
Two men walking up a hill
One disappears and ones left standing still
I wish we’d all been ready

The Father spoke, the demons dined
How could you have been so blind?

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

There's no time to change your mind
The Son has come and you've been left behind

I hope well all be ready
You've been left behind [Repeat: x3]

Songwriters: Larry Norman

I Wish We'd All Been Ready lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Go Forward

Ice hockey isn’t a complicated game. The ultimate goal on offense is to score a goal. On defense it is to stop the other team from scoring and take the puck away from them so that you can score more goals. It’s not complicated.

Simply put; to score you must go forward towards the opponent’s net.

There are no weird complicated rules like they have in baseball such as:

"An INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out."

“Each runner including the batter-runner may, without liability to be put out, advance three bases if a fielder deliberately touches a fair ball with his cap, mask or any part or any part of his uniform detached from its proper place on his person.”

Or like they have in football such as:

“Teams can technically elect to play by “make it, take it” rules, because when a touchdown is scored, it is the option of the team that was scored against whether or not to receive the ball or kick it back to the other team.”

“If a team punts the ball away to an opponent and either half expires after the snap, the receiving team has the right to attempt a field goal from the spot that the punt returner calls for and secures a fair catch.”

But there are some rules that are similar. Both football and hockey have rules dealing with being offside.

In ice hockey, if a player on the attacking team enters the offensive zone before the puck crosses the blue line, he is offside (unless the puck is sent or carried there by a defending player). When an offside violation occurs, a linesman will stop play.

So, if your the goal is to go forward towards the opponent’s net and you don’t want to stop play, then you must be careful to not be offside.

Another way to be offside is to be in the offensive zone and have a teammate bring the puck out towards center ice - also known as the neutral zone; thus creating a situation in which he can’t bring the puck back into the offensive zone UNTIL you (and the rest of your teammates) are back in the neutral zone.

So, what frustrates me is when I have crossed the into the offensive zone (legally) and am waiting by the net for the pass and another teammate of mine, Bob (not his real name), brings the puck out of the offensive zone and back across the blue lines to the neutral zone, thus causing me to be offside!

Why, you may be asking, did Bob do this? Because Bob wanted to reset up the play at center ice! And suddenly, without warning, I and my other teammates are offside simply because Bob decided to go backwards to the neutral zone.

Hey Bob, it’s really not a complicated game; go forward towards the opponent’s net and then score. go forward, not backwards!

Last year during a game, Bob did it so many times that I actually benched myself so that I could settle myself down because I was frustrated with him.

On a side note, this gave me a tremendous opportunity to talk to another teammate about how I as a Christian should act-when he asked me why I took myself out of the game…

In the Bible we see several examples of people who were supposed to go forward but instead went to the neutral zone and stood still.

In Exodus 14 we find the nation of Israel standing at the shores of the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army coming in hot pursuit. They were afraid and Moses (the great leader that he was) told them to stand still. In other words; go to the neutral zone.

But they had a job to do. They had marching orders. They were on a mission. They had a goal (or were supposed to score a goal) so the Lord tells Moses:

 “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” (Exodus 14:13-15).

In 1 Samuel 17, we find the nation of Israel standing at a valley between two mountains with their enemy, the Philistines, on the other side. Every day, for forty days, Goliath, the biggest Philistine, drew near and presented himself morning and evening, challenging Israel to fight him.

To do so, they would need to GO FORWARD. Instead, Israel stood in the neutral zone and did nothing.

But they had a job to do. They had marching orders. They were on a mission. They had a goal (or were supposed to score a goal) so young David tells his brothers: “Is there not a cause?” (v.29) and RUNS toward the army to meet the Philistine (v.48) and scores a goal (defeats Goliath) and Israel was victorious!

So where are the areas that you keeping holding back when you know that you are supposed to GO FORWARD? Where are the areas that you are standing or sitting in the neutral zone instead of heading towards the open net?

Why are you waiting? Why are you holding back?

Jesus, our “Head Coach” longs for you to call out to Him today. Today is the day to listen to what He wants you to do and then GO FORWARD.

He is waiting for you to respond to His mercy and grace that has already been extended to you through Jesus Christ. And you can; today. And it can make all the difference in the world as you look for hope in your present world. Let Him be your “Head Coach” as you receive Him as Savior and Lord.

Need further help? Someone is waiting to talk with you. Call either:

1-888-NEED HIM or 1-877-2GRAHAM (1-877-247-2426).

All Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.