Sept 27, 2026 | www.GospelofJesusChrist.blog | River Wilde
Many of us believed we were extraordinarily close to the Rapture. We watched. We studied. We looked at the feasts, the wars, Israel, the condition of the world, and the prophetic Scriptures. Some became convinced that perhaps we had finally reached the moment when the trumpet would sound. And yet—we are still here.
So, what do we do now?
Perhaps Jesus already answered that question.
In the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus included one little statement that means much more to me today than it once did: “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept” Matthew 25:5 KJV.
The Bridegroom tarried.
Think about that. Jesus could have told the story with the Bridegroom arriving immediately. Instead, He deliberately included a period of waiting. There came a time when those expecting the Bridegroom had waited so long that they became tired.
That sounds remarkably familiar. Can you relate to what I am saying?
Some Christians today are tired of watching. They are tired of predictions. They are tired of dates. They are tired of believing that this event or that event might finally be the one that changes everything.
Maybe that doesn’t mean we have failed.
Maybe it means we have reached the part of the story where we learn how to wait.
Jesus did not tell the virgins exactly when the Bridegroom would arrive. Their responsibility was not to calculate his arrival perfectly. Their responsibility was to have oil when he came.
And then, suddenly:
“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” — Matthew 25:6 KJV
There is something else we need to remember. Our hope was never supposed to rest upon a particular year, feast day, astronomical event, war, peace agreement, or prophetic calculation.
Our hope rests upon a Person.
Jesus said:
“I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” — John 14:3 KJV
That promise has not changed.
Paul didn’t tell Christians about being “caught up” so that they would spend their lives frightened that they might have calculated the timing incorrectly. After describing the dead in Christ rising and believers being caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, Paul concluded:
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:18 KJV
Comfort one another.
Maybe that needs to become our mission during the tarrying.
Instead of asking every morning, “Is today the day?” perhaps we can also ask, “Lord, what would You have me do with today?”
So, what is the purpose of Jesus tarrying?
I think Jesus gave us a remarkably direct answer to this question. In the parables about His return, He seems less concerned that His followers figure out the length of the delay than that they understand what the delay is for and how to live through it.
The first thing He wants us to know is that tarrying does not mean cancellation. In the ten virgins, Jesus deliberately says:
Matthew 25:5–6 (KJV): “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”
That is extraordinary when you’re discouraged by waiting. The delay was part of Jesus’ own story. Yet the next event wasn’t abandonment—it was “the bridegroom cometh.”
Second, I think He wants us to understand that we don’t have to maintain a constant state of prophetic excitement. Notice that all ten virgins “slumbered and slept.” The distinction Jesus eventually makes isn’t between people who slept and people who stayed awake staring toward the horizon. The crucial difference was the oil.
That suggests something important: watching for Christ isn’t necessarily spending every waking hour searching for another sign. It is remaining spiritually prepared for Him even while ordinary life continues.
Third, Jesus wants us to keep doing something with the life He has entrusted to us. Immediately after the ten virgins comes the parable of the talents. A man travels away, entrusts something valuable to his servants, and:
Matthew 25:19 (KJV): “After a long time, the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.”
There it is again: “after a long time.”
And what mattered when the master returned? What his servants had done while he was gone.
That changes the question from:
“Why hasn’t Jesus come yet?”
to:
“What has Jesus entrusted to me until He comes?”
Fourth, Jesus wants His followers to continue caring for people. The remainder of Matthew 25 speaks about feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and visiting those who are sick or imprisoned. Whatever one’s interpretation of the prophetic details of that passage, the practical emphasis is unmistakable: waiting for Christ should produce action toward others, not paralysis.
And fifth—and perhaps most importantly—He wants us to trust His promise more than our timetable.
Jesus didn’t say:
“You’ll figure out the year.”
He said:
John 14:3 (KJV): “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Those are very different foundations for hope.
If my hope is “I believe He’s coming this September,” September can take my hope away.
If my hope is “Jesus said, ‘I will come again,’” September cannot take that away.
And Peter gives another reason for what appears to us as delay:
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV): “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
That gives the waiting purpose. Every additional day is also another day in which someone can hear about Christ, someone can turn to Him, someone can forgive another person, someone can love their family, and someone can discover the Gospel.
And then there is this lesson that all of us try to avoid because of the difficulty involved. The Refining Fire of Faith:
Jesus repeatedly connected waiting, testing, perseverance, and faith. Sometimes faith becomes deeper precisely because the expected answer does not come immediately.
Consider what Peter says:
1 Peter 1:7 (KJV): “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
That is remarkably relevant. Peter connects the testing of faith directly with “the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
There is another statement from Jesus that may be even more striking:
Luke 18:8 (KJV): “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
That question shifts our attention. Instead of only asking, “When will He come?”, Jesus causes us to ask, “What will He find in me when He comes?”
And James describes what waiting produces:
James 1:3–4 (KJV): “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
So, there may be something spiritually valuable happening during this disappointing period of waiting.
When we think the Rapture is imminent, faith can unintentionally become attached to the date:
“I trust God because I believe He’s coming very soon.”
But when the anticipated window passes, we’re confronted with a deeper question:
“Will I still trust Jesus when I don’t understand His timing?”
That is a different kind of faith.
Abraham had to wait.
Joseph had to wait.
Israel had to wait.
The disciples had to wait.
And in Jesus’ own parable, the virgins had to wait because “the bridegroom tarried.”
Perhaps one lesson of the tarrying is learning to say:
“Lord, I don’t know when You’re coming anymore—and I don’t need to know. I know You. You said You would return. That’s enough.”
That kind of faith is actually less dependent upon prophecy calculations and more dependent upon Christ Himself.
Can we watch when nothing happens? Can we trust when our calculations fail? Can we keep our lamps burning when midnight seems longer than expected? Can we love Christ because of who He is rather than because we believe our departure is only days away?
The tarrying doesn’t necessarily mean we misunderstood the promise. We may simply have misunderstood the timing.
And through that waiting, faith can move from:
“I believe because I think I know when.”
to something much stronger:
“I believe because I know Whom I have believed.”
2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV): “…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
I have continually written that we should “FINISH STRONG!” I had no idea that the lesson to me would be, “FINISH with a STRONER FAITH!”
I accept this challenge from my God. I will work through the challenge of impatience by replacing it with a greater faith in His promise of coming for those “in Christ,” regardless of any anticipated date.
I will see the tarrying of Jesus Christ, as a time for me to strengthen my faith in His revelations, without tying them to specifics that are not given in His word.
Many of us are excited to return HOME, and have become exhausted from the challenges of mortality. There might even be some to feel that they can not even go on another day. To all of us, I say, “We might not be able to push through the tarrying of Jesus Christ, but when we yoke up to HIM, WE CAN DO ALL THINGS.”
Matthew 11:28–30 (KJV):
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
That fits beautifully with what we’ve been discussing about waiting for Christ. Jesus never intended the waiting to become such a heavy burden that it takes away our peace. His invitation is to bring that burden back to Him: “Come unto me… and I will give you rest.”
For those of you who can relate to the disappointment that I write about today, will you join me in giving that burden to Christ? Will you pray for strength, not only for yourself, but for our “family” who continues to support this blog? We all need each other.
I am aware of several people who were just hanging on one more day for the rapture, and feel that it is now too difficult to continue on. Will you pray for them. I will not share their names due to my respect for them, but God will know who you are asking to help.
I still find great joy and relief to know that I will not have to endure any of the 7-year Tribulation Period. This is a blessing from the rapture. This does not change with a date, for God must remove His spirit from the earth before the antichrist is allowed to take the world stage.
I give my utmost praise and respect to a Father that will be protecting His children from the wrath that is about to come. We should be shouting JOY because of this, and certainly finding comfort in God’s plan.
Let us finish strong, with a greater FAITH in God’s end times plan, is my prayer.
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