Sleeping With One Eye Open
Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open? It’s true.
They do so because they can only ever let one side of their brain sleep at a time. When the left side of the brain sleeps, the right eye will close, and vice versa. This isn’t some weird, ambidextrous stunt they’re pulling. Rather, it’s because they must always remain partially conscious to remind themselves to breathe.
You see, dolphins, unlike most sea creatures, are not fish. They are mammals. As such, they need to surface regularly to take in air. And for dolphins, breathing is not automatic or reflexive the way it is for humans. “In other words,” say the experts at us.whales.org, “dolphins have to actively decide when to breathe, … [They] alternate which half of the brain is sleeping periodically so that they can get the rest they need without ever losing consciousness.”
If a dolphin were ever to go into deep, full-brain, total unconscious sleep, they would simply suffocate or drown.
Likewise, believers can't afford to be lulled to sleep by the world but must remain alert, always ready for the Lord's return.
"But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation" (1Thessalonians 5:4-8, NLT).
The Love That Waited
Lots of people say “till death do us part” when they get married. But few get a chance to prove it as Clara Gantt did. In 1948 she married Joseph Gantt, and not long after that, he was deployed with the US Army to Korea to fight in the Korean War. US Army First Class Sergeant Joseph Gantt was captured and thought to be killed in action in 1950. But his body was never found, and his death was never confirmed by the North Koreans.
His wife, Clara, waited for decades for her husband to come back. She regularly went to meetings with government officials seeking information about what had happened. Clara even bought a house and had it professionally landscaped so all Joseph would have to do when he came home was go fishing.
She was ninety-four years old when his remains were finally brought home for a military funeral with full honors. It wasn’t the homecoming she dreamed of, but she finally knew his fate. Clara told a reporter who interviewed her, “He told me if anything happened to him, he wanted me to remarry. And I told him ‘No, no.’ Here I am, still his wife, and I’m going to remain his wife until the day the Lord calls me home.”
She continued to love him till the end, even though it was decades in the making.
As believers, we are the Bride of Christ, waiting for His return. He doesn't expect us to build Him a home but has called us to be faithful and patiently wait until He takes us home. While Mrs. Clara Gantt's long wait ended with sorrow and disappointment, the patience of the believer will be rewarded with eternal jubilation.
"My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (John 14:2-3).
"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).
You'll Know It When You See It
Growing up in suburban New Jersey, I can remember when my dad took the family to New York City for the first time. He told us that we would pass through a huge tunnel under the Hudson River called “The Lincoln Tunnel”. I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see this great tunnel. I imagined going deep underground with the river above our heads. Would it be dark? How long is it? How will I know when we get there?
As we approached the helix on route 3, there was a series of large overpasses we passed under. I asked, “Dad, was THAT the Lincoln Tunnel?” His reply, of course, was no. Then another overpass came and I asked, “Is THAT it?!”. He replied, “Jeffrey, you will know it when you see it.” In other words, if I had to ask, then that couldn’t possibly be it.
Naturally, as we spiraled down the helix into the toll booths I marveled at those 3 great looming archways leading into darkness. It was very clear to me then: THIS was the Lincoln Tunnel!
I am relating this story to those who think (or fear) that we have entered into the Tribulation, which is described in the Bible (namely Matthew chapter 24, and the books of Daniel and Revelation). My answer is the same as my Dad’s was regarding the Lincoln Tunnel: “No. You will know it when you see it.”
This coronavirus pandemic is merely an overpass. It is NOTHING compared to what is to come. But I believe it is a sign that we are nearly there. We are approaching the Helix. And the blessed hope we are expecting from 1Corinthians 15:51-58 and 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 is close at hand.
I believe God is using this pandemic to get the world’s attention. I also believe that all believers in Christ will escape the Tribulation to come - in the same way that Noah and his family escaped the Flood, by their faith. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Accept HIS plan for your salvation, not your own good works, and you will be delivered from the coming judgment.
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever" (1Thessalonians 4:16–17, NLT).
"For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood" (Romans 3:25, NLT).