Occupy Till I Come

This is a military term, and in every generation, it is relevant to the given hour. You may have seen the photograph of an empty church building that read, ”They are not missing, they are simply deployed.” A few years ago I was in California when a phone call was made to a man in the congregation. He had just finished his last assignment and was retiring from the branch of service he was in.

It was emotional to watch him have to tell his friends he had to leave immediately. He was married with children and had just moved back home to his family and friends; but his plans had to be put on the back burner. His Country needed him, and he had to leave by the next morning. The Country came first. I recall he had high clearance into a communications base, and it required him to get back to base as fast and as soon as he could.

It was a moment where time seemed to stand still as he went from friend to friend to tell them he had been called back into service and was being deployed. He did not seem to have a hard time responding because he knew how important his training had been, and it was easier for him to step back into the line of duty where others were still being trained to operate in strategic communications. This brother was essential to the overall success of our Country’s security. He was sold out to his commitment and the vow he made to his country.

This is a small part of what it means to occupy and what happens when military men and women are deployed. I love the idea that, as soldiers of Jesus Christ, we should hear trumpets in the morning calling us to service for the Captain of our faith. Songs have played in a constant loop in my mind lately. Songs like this: ...“Sons of God march forward in the power of the latter rain.

Sons of God march forward, for Jesus is ever the same. Sons of God march forward.

We are more than conquerors, in His Name. Sons of God march forward, in the power of the latter rain…”

Deploy where you are, i.e., in the home, on the job, among your friends and families, and OCCUPY TILL HE COMES, because He is on His way

Your loving pastors,

Cleddie & GayNell Keith