Have you ever had someone call you and ask what you have going on that day and told them about something happening later, but in the meantime, you are doing something else? There are several activities I have found to do in the meantime while waiting for something such as, play a game on my phone, clean a room in my house, make a snack, and the list can go on. While looking at something to do in the meantime, we need to think about what we have planned. Taking this to a spiritual perspective, we can look at the big thing that we are all waiting for, heaven.
In Philippians 1:19-30, we can read about Paul dealing with this dilemma of what to do in the meantime while waiting to go and be with the Lord. The big verse that most people will remember from this passage would be Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” What does that mean though? Paul explains that it means it would be better if he were to die and go and be with the Lord, but while he is still here on earth, he will continue to work to bring people to God. Paul also encouraged the people of Philippi to continue to live their lives worthy of the gospel. He wanted the people there to grow in God’s word and work with him even while he was absent from them. Paul knows that they will struggle in the meantime, but that they will receive the same gift that Paul will at the end of their journey.
So the question is, what will we do in the meantime? Will we continue to work and strive to bring people to Christ, or will we give up and just hope for ourselves? The answer would be easier if it were not for the situation that we are all going through now with many people struggling because of the lockdown across the nation, but we should not give up hope. Even while Paul was in prison, he did not give up hope. He even warned the church in Philippi that they will struggle the same way he did. We will face many difficulties, but we need to continue to be God’s people and do the work that he would have us to do.
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