It’s Friday already… again. I feel like Sunday was just yesterday, and now the week is over. Gone. Finished. “But it’s the weekend,” you say. “Don’t most people celebrate that fact?” Yeah, they do. I usually do too. In some ways, I do rejoice. I’m grateful that my classes all went well this week, I’m happy that I was semi-productive in my free time, and I’m very much ready for Sabbath and the rest and joy that it brings. However, I also feel like time is moving WAY too fast. My last blog post was all about how I only had 9 months and 24 days left to make a difference in this place, and now that number has been diminished even more. (Don’t make me do the math to figure it out. It is the weekend, after all.) Even more shocking than the countdown for my days left in Thailand is the countdown for the days we have left in this world. Guys, the time of the end is near – I feel it now more than ever.

Let’s get one thing straight: I’ve never been the type of Adventist that preaches to everyone they meet about how “the end of the world is at hand – Jesus is coming soon!” Honestly, up until recently, I haven’t even felt like “soon” was the right word to pair with “Jesus is coming”. I’ve been alive 20 years now, and so far nothing has happened to make me believe that this is the end. My parents have been alive for much longer than 20 years, hearing sermons about the “soon” coming of Jesus since they were young. My grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on, have all been told in massive amounts, “Jesus is coming soon”. For the longest time, I couldn’t take anyone seriously who would tell me that Jesus is coming in my lifetime. I just can’t see it happening. People have been saying that for hundreds of years and it hasn’t happened. I keep waiting for the infamous Sunday Law to be passed, making it impossible for Sabbath-keepers to buy or sell anything; it hasn’t happened yet. I’m anxious to see people walking around with the mark of the beast on their hands and foreheads, but so far, the closest thing I’ve seen to that are people with strangely-placed tattoos. I’ve been waiting for famines to break out in places other than third-world countries, for World War III to erupt, for an atomic bomb to explode, for something, anything, that will notify me that the end of the world is at hand.

And then the election of 2016 came around. (Shudder.)

I don’t follow politics. Never have, and possibly never seriously will. But it’s been amazing for me to see how the United States of America (emphasis on “United”) have become so very divided over two presidential candidates who are less than desirable for running our nation. If either one succeeds in becoming president, I think that will be our sign to pack our bags and get ready for heaven, because the end is surely near. There’s so much political unrest, not just in my home country of America, but all over the world. My current “home”, Thailand, is in an especially delicate place right now. (Look up the news if you want to know more – I’d rather not post about it all.) I’m feeling the tension of hundreds of nations growing tighter and tighter, like a rubber band about to snap. And, of course, we can’t overlook the natural disasters that have been plaguing our world, most recently in our own country. There are wars and rumors of wars happing all over, and there is plenty of famine existing to make that sign come to life. What I’m trying to say is, though I didn’t feel it before, I feel it now – the end of the world is at hand. (Have I really become that Adventist? Guys, it’s getting real.)

All these signs have been taking place for a while now, though. It’s not like natural disasters are a new fad, and famines have been taking place since way before the time of Christ; wars aren’t a new thing either. So why do I suddenly have this conviction that the end of the world is near? Well, truth be told, I don’t know. All I know is that every day we’re one step closer to His glorious appearing, but that also means we’re one step closer to His judgement of the Earth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m SO excited for His return. But I’m also terrified. Not for myself – I’m very much secure in my own state of salvation (though I often question WHY He would want to save me, I never question whether or not I’m saved). I’m terrified for the people who haven’t had the chance to know Him. I’m totally freaked by the fact that almost every single person I’ve met so far in Thailand doesn’t know the name of Jesus at all, or even if they have heard of Him, they haven’t accepted Him as their Savior. And I’m horrified that I’m able to stay calm and do nothing about it. Sure, I witness to my students at PMA and their families as much as I can, and I make sure to live a life that demonstrates my love for Christ, but I also sit at home for hours on end doing absolutely nothing that benefits these people in any way. If our time here on Earth really is as short as I feel like it is, shouldn’t I be doing all I can to reach as many people as possible?

Maybe I’m over-reacting. Maybe I’m paranoid. Maybe I need to just take a chill pill and realize that Jesus is coming, whether I witness to people or not, though that’s not really the attitude I want to have. I fully realize that I didn’t come to Thailand to change the lives of every single person I meet. I know I’m just one person, and if I can help even just one other person come to Jesus, that will have been worth my time. But it does make me sad how little I’m really doing to reach out, and it makes me want to reevaluate my priorities. Call me one of those crazy Adventists, but I’m hopping on the band wagon that preaches Jesus’ soon return. So yes, it’s Friday. It’s the end of yet another week. Time is flying by, and I can’t do anything to stop it, so I have to make every second count. Please continue to pray for me as I learn how to reach these people better, and then hopefully when Jesus does come, He can show you all the lives you reached through your prayers, and He can show me that I really did make a difference during my time here in Thailand.

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