Luke 12:35-36 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”
Thirty years. That’s how long the cold war bunker, built under the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, remained a secret. Designed by Dwight Eisenhower as a fallout shelter for Congress in case of a nuclear attack, I don’t know what impressed me more on our recent tour. The amazing structure itself or the fact that only a handful of people knew of its existence for all those years. People who vacationed at the resort had no idea the means of preserving the United States of America lay tucked securely underneath their feet.
Thankfully, we never needed the bunker. But had a bomb dropped on US soil, the government was ready. The bunker contained every necessity imaginable. Ongoing food supply, generators, provision for de-contaminable water and air, even a simulated congressional room where the legislators could conduct government business.
Some argue that since we were never attacked, the project wasted a lot of money. But I’m not so sure. Who knows how much our readiness influenced crucial decisions?
The Bible says a lot about being prepared. Of being watchful. Faithful. Jesus warned us to “stay dressed for action” and “keep our lamp burning” even when it seems nothing is happening. The master in the parable who returns to find his servants faithful is so pleased that he starts serving them! (v.37). And those who tired of waiting faced horrible consequences for their unfaithfulness (v.46).
How about you? Do you waver in watching and tire of waiting for God’s plan to unfold? Maybe you need to build a bunker.
I believe those who remain faithful, in spite of the unrelenting bombing of life’s uncertainties, draw strength from a secret place. They’ve built a bunker stocked with the promises of God. They prioritize spending time in his presence every day. And like those servants in the parable, they faithfully go about the work assigned to them.
We don’t know what lies ahead in coming days. But let’s be ready. Let’s bunker up!