You don't know what you have until it's gone

For the past two years, I have been afforded to opportunity to be in church pretty much anytime there was a service called. Sunday, Wednesday, revival services on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, fellowship service on Saturday, if it was a service, I was there. Being new to the Apostolic faith, I was hungry to soak up every bit of teaching and knowledge that I could. When I hired onto work at my job, I knew the day would come that I would have to rotate shifts so I wanted as much as I could get until that day came. I thought I had more time because the side I worked for only had dayshift at this time. However, a recent job change, to a job I absolutely love, moved me to the opposite side of the plant into an already established rotation pattern. I had to learn to go with the flow quickly. 

As the days counted down to the first shift rotation, I found myself antsy and anxious. Had I got enough packed into those two years that would hold me through these four weeks of having to miss one service a week? Nevermind that I was reading my devotions at home and having prayer time, had I been taught enough? My mind always went to Hebrews 10:25 where it says to not forsake the assembling together and I began to think of ways that I could possibly get out of rotation work due to religious reasons. I didn't go that route and grudgingly made my first rotation.

While these nights have gone fairly quickly, as I only have one more week before I rotate back to days, I find myself thinking. I think about that phrase that I said in the first paragraph, "I thought I had more time." How many people are there in the world that had a desire to get things right with God but thought they had more time? They wanted to live all of their life to the fullness of their ability before they "surrendered" it all in sacrifice. 

A local congregation has been having ongoing revival for some time now. During this meeting, a sister who had been away from God for many years returned and surrenderd herself fully back to God. After a Tuesday night service where she had an encounter with God, she was involved in a horrific accident the next morning. She succumbed to her injuries and made her way to heaven. Had she not returned to God, she would not be there today. 

So many take for granted that church or God will be there whenever they feel like it. I got a headache so I'm going to stay home today. My foot hurts, staying in bed to watch online. I'm sorry. It's not the same. These past three weeks of having to stream online while at work or on break has taught me that being in church is not the same as watching church. The tangible presence of the Holy Ghost as He moves about you, in you and through you as He works and ministers cannot be achieved through a video stream. I really didn't know what I had until it was gone.

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