I am always so encouraged when I have the chance to worship at Glen Ellyn Bible Church during my visits to Wheaton. This Sunday, Pastor Kelly Brady, shared a tremendous parallel to how we need to be ready for Christ's 2nd coming.
Right before WWI, Ernest Shackleford was attempting to pass Antarctica from one coast to the other through the South pole. Long story short, they faced incredible weather and ice and their entire ship went under after 10 months of drifting in the ocean. They floated and survived for another 5 months before making it to Elephant Island. After 497 days they were finally on land again.
Shackleford realized that there was no hope for them to be rescued on Elephant Island, so he took off with 5 other men, leaving 22 behind. They survived a 17 day, 800 mile trek through treacherous waters. 21 months after the initial departure, Shackleford's full crew of 28 was saved.
I had heard this story dozens of times from my Grandfather, due to the incredible leadership and perseverance shown by Shackleford, but Pastor Brady shed a new light. When Shackleford returned to Elephant Island, he found his crew waiting patiently fully packed and ready to go. Every day they waited fully prepared, and every night after another day of waiting they unpacked everything they had and set up camp for the night. After months and months of this routine, they never wavered. What a great testament to how we need to prepare ourselves every single second for the return of Christ. What an eternal shame if we were to be caught unprepared.
(sorry if i messed up any details of this story!)
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