Get Ready for Your Turnaround

“Take your stand and get yourself ready!” – Jeremiah 46:14

Every direction you look today, prophetic shockwaves are shaking the world. Political events affecting the nations…climate changes and natural disasters…economic turmoil…and fierce cultural wars between competing worldviews—all these are unmistakable signs of the End Times. And the most significant signposts of all involve the nation of Israel and the unfolding drama in the Middle East.

To those who study the prophetic Scriptures, none of these shockwaves should be a surprise. Jesus told His disciples that the End Times would be marked by clear signs. He chastised the religious leaders of His day for knowing how to predict tomorrow’s weather report but not being able to discern “the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:1-3).

While the Bible makes it clear the Last Days will be “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1), the good news is that you can be READY for the days ahead:

This can be your TURNAROUND year!

Though the current shaking will bring great peril to those who place their hope in earthly security, as believers in Jesus Christ we’re privileged to live for “a kingdom which cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28). Even during the storms of life, we can find safety and provision (Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 6:33). God can give us amazing breakthroughs in our health, finances, and families.

But we need to get ready for our turnaround.

Parables of Readiness

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells several final parables before His death and resurrection. These each present critical lessons about our preparation for the End Times.

The first parable describes 10 bridesmaids who’ve taken their lamps to meet the bridegroom and celebrate the wedding. However, even though all 10 of the bridesmaids were well-meaning, “five of them were foolish, and five were wise” (v. 2 NLT).

I want to be “wise” in these End Times, don’t you? Like the sons of Isacchar, it’s crucial that we understand the times and know how God wants us to prepare for the difficult days ahead (1 Chronicles 12:32).

The distinguishing characteristic between these bridesmaids in Matthew 25 is that the foolish ones “didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps,” while the others wisely took along extra oil (v. 4). When the bridegroom finally came, the lamps of the foolish bridesmaids were about to lose their flame.

Sadly, only “those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast” (v. 10). Because of their failure to prepare themselves, the foolish bridesmaids missed out on the “feast” they’d been invited to.

Jesus concludes this parable with a direct reference to our preparedness for His Second Coming: “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return” (v. 13). Like the wise bridesmaids, we must have extra oil in our spiritual lamps—spending daily time in God’s presence, reading His Word, and asking Him to continually fill us with the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Investments

Jesus’ next parable describes a man going on a long trip, who “called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone” (v. 14). One servant received five bags of silver, another received two bags, and the third received one bag.

The first two servants both invested their money and, in both cases, the money doubled in value. However, the third servant merely “dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money” (v. 18).

What a powerful word picture! Whether God has entrusted us with many resources or just a few, He wants us to faithfully invest them into His Kingdom. If we do so, the resources will multiply—resulting in an abundance of Harvest blessings.

This is such an important principle for discovering God’s abundance amid the economic shakings of the End Times. Yet many believers are living in fear today, seeking to play it safe and hide their resources in “a hole in the ground.”

Proverbs 11:24-25 tells us that withholding always leads to poverty, but release brings increase. The third servant thought it was prudent to hang on to the little that he had, and his selfish, unbelieving attitude caused him to lose everything (v. 28)! Even worse, the master judged him to be a “wicked and lazy servant” (v. 26).

The story concludes with a wonderful key to receiving a turnaround and prospering in the tough times ahead: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance” (v. 29). But Jesus also adds a sober warning to those who do nothing: “Even what little they have will be taken away.”

Are You Ready?

Inspiration Partners, Jesus’ parables in Matthew 25 include vital lessons for us to heed today. I’m convinced that GOD is ready to give us turnarounds, but WE must get ready to receive them!

Like the wise virgins, we must draw near to the Lord and make sure our spiritual lamps are full of oil. And like the faithful servants, we must take steps of faith and obedience to invest our Seeds into God’s Kingdom, asking Him for increase.

I believe this can be your turnaround year! We are praying for you to discover God’s care and provision more than ever before. May your lamp be full of oil…may you cast off fear and boldly invest your resources into God’s Kingdom…and may you be blessed with new abundance in your own life as you join us in the great End-Time Harvest of Souls (Revelation 14:15):

“Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come
for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

Your partner to reach the Lost,

David Cerullo

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