Jesus’ Instructions in Waiting for His Return
By Kyle Lance and Laura Martin
As believers longing to be ready for Christ’s return, we need the Lord to help, guide, and equip us to number our days carefully. The psalmist writes, “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts” (Ps. 90:12, hcsb).
We need the Lord’s power and strength to help us view every moment as from the Lord—from the moment we wake up, to getting kids ready for school, to filling our car with gas, to running errands, to seeking the Lord on whether to say yes or no to new opportunities arising each day.
With this mindset, how can we make each moment count for the Lord?
Pray and Pursue
Another way to ask this question is found in Luke 19:13, where Jesus uses a parable to make His “occupy till I come” point to His disciples (kjv). How do we occupy until He returns? The nobleman gave his servants a specific amount of money to steward. As another version puts it, he asks them to “engage in business until I come back” (hcsb).
So, we must ask: what is this “business” we should engage in until Christ returns?
First, we must pray. Prayer aligns us with the Father and moves His heart. Prayer strengthens us to walk out the will of God. Prayer readies our hearts for every thought, conversation, and moment. Prayer is the “business” to engage in until Christ returns.
We must pray:
- for the lost to be found.
- for people to become burdened to ready themselves for Christ’s return and to be a laborer in the harvest. In Luke 10:2, Jesus said, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
- for a move from the Lord.
As you pray, you must also pursue what you are praying for. This is the other half of the “business” you are to engage in until Christ returns. Are you willing to be an answer to this prayer? Are you burdened for whatever burdens the heart of Jesus?
Every day is a gift from the Lord. We not only need to desire and pray for a move of God, but we need to pursue a move of God by walking obediently in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, until Christ returns.
A.W. Tozer said it powerfully and truthfully:
Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late—and how little revival has resulted? I believe our problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience (italics added).1
Pursuing those things we pray for fulfills the business of the Lord. Pursuing them in obedience allows you to actively number your days for Jesus, until He returns.
Go with the Gospel
For a believer, the business to go was quite clear in Matthew 28:19–20, “Go, therefore, and make disciples ofall nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In order to number our days and occupy until Christ returns, believers go with the gospel entrusted to us. We must not be ashamed of it. Jesus Himself said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels”(Luke 9:26).
The Great Commission says we must go and make. We go unashamedly: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
And we go out—like Jesus modeled to His disciples. When Jesus went into the community, He engaged in the business of His Father. He loved the people. He listened. He discerned what to do, say, or act, and then responded as the Spirit led. It’s a remarkable pattern: love, listen, discern, respond.
Time to Revive, a ministry based in Dallas, TX, has been equipping the saints around the world to go out so that believers steward the love the Lord has entrusted us and do the Father’s business, until He returns.
We go, relying on the Holy Spirit to direct our steps, never knowing how the Lord will lead. But He always does. Kyle recently had this unique testimony from the Lord while at our son’s baseball game:
I just dropped off my son and his friend to warm up with their team before their baseball game. They had 45 minutes before the game actually started, so I decided to go for a walk around the park. As I did, the Holy Spirit highlighted two women sitting at a picnic table. I knew right away I was to share with them, yet I needed to wait on the right timing.
So, I continued to go on a walk. When I circled back around, the Spirit of God released me to go and speak with them. As I approached, I asked if there was anything I could pray for them. The one woman pointed to her best friend and indicated her friend needed prayer. I asked why. The best friend said she drove almost four hours to vent about her personal struggle of depression.
This conversation at the park was as real as it can get. The timing was only of God. In fact, the best friend said, “This has to be of God.” We prayed right there under the pavilion for her to experience the love and presence of the Lord. When we finished praying, and after going through the Good News, this young woman placed her hope in Jesus as her Lord and Savior. It was a sweet moment of the Holy Spirit showing up.
Going out and pursuing the business of the Lord is only possible when you pray, spend time receiving Jesus’ love for you, and then go out and share this love with others.
Repeat Cycle
As a “baseball mom,” the Lord whispered to Laura’s heart while cleaning our nine-year-old son’s baseball jersey and pants. It was a great season, cheering on her little slugger. But after every single game, what does she do with his white uniform? Spray. Bleach. Soak. Wash.
And just like that, before the next game, he has his crisp, white uniform to go back out and play his game all over again: bat, catch, slide, and run through the dirt, grass, and puddles.
While in the middle of this cleaning process, the Lord had Laura pause to see what He saw. First, she noticed the cardinal on his shirt—a cardinal is a personal reminder to her that “the Lord is near. He is with me and always working.”
Then she saw the dirt covering his uniform—so, so, so much dirt. The Lord whispered to Laura’s heart:
“Just like in life, you go out there and show up every day. You may get messy when in relationship with people. You may get tired. You pour out and you get dirty, bruised, and seemingly stained. But you are obediently doing and going out as I’ve created you to do—loving, delighting, serving, caring, and sharing with others with the love I’ve poured into you.
“Now, what do I want you to do? Come to Me. Rest in Me. Abide in Me. Renew your heart in Me.
“Spray, bleach, soak, wash. And then go out again and ‘play the game’ to which I’ve called you. Fight the battle, embrace the God-moment, and share the testimony just for Me—as you delight in living out your calling for Me.”
As you think about numbering your days until Christ returns—occupying until He comes—what’s holding you back? Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Pray and pursue in obedience.
As we number our days until Christ’s return, we actively pursue the prophetic words of Jesus: “This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the worldas a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come”(Matt. 24:14, italics added).
It is time to proclaim to all the world the testimony of the love of Jesus within you.
1A.W. Tozer, Of God and Men (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015).
KYLE LANCE and LAURA MARTIN founded the ministry Time to Revive in Dallas, TX. They live out their desire to engage people with the gospel and equip believers in evangelism and discipleship until Christ returns (timetorevive.com). In addition, Kyle developed a two-year teaching through the Bible (reviveschool.org) and Laura authored Revive Daily, a two-year devotional book through the Bible.
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