When the Finish Line Feels Farther Away Than You Expected
You were in your final year of university. You knew exactly what the finish line looked like: graduation. Then the university went on strike. Your studies were interrupted, your momentum disappeared, and your final exam ended up scheduled for the very last possible day, leaving a huge gap in between. You still cared about graduating — but the uncertainty made you anxious, and the anxiety made you procrastinate.
You couldn’t control when the strike would end. What you could control was whether you kept preparing. So you gathered friends and studied together, and that gave you back your rhythm. The finish line still mattered. The problem was letting uncertainty about when you’d reach it interfere with what you needed to do while you waited. That same tension can show up when we study biblical prophecy
How Should Prophecy Affect My Daily Life?
Scripture gives us real information about Christ’s return and the events still to come. Christians are called to watch and remain ready, and looking forward to Christ is part of genuine Christian hope. But knowing there is a future fulfillment doesn’t eliminate today’s responsibilities. Biblical prophecy is not an invitation to abandon the present — it should change how we live in the present, not excuse us from living in it.
How Can Christians Avoid Speculation and Date-Setting?
Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers because they had become troubled concerning the day of Christ.
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, KJV).
They needed correction and grounding, not more speculation piled on top of what was already unsettling them. This isn’t a claim that modern Christians are experiencing exactly what the Thessalonians experienced — it’s the biblical example of believers being genuinely unsettled by prophetic teaching, and Paul’s response to it: when a claim unsettles you, go back to Scripture rather than letting the claim dictate your life.
That balance runs in both directions. One error is becoming so consumed with timelines and predictions that today’s responsibilities get pushed aside. The other error is the opposite extreme — dismissing the season we’re actually living in, becoming so tied to the world’s pace and priorities that we stop watching at all, stop discerning what’s happening around us, and stop living with any real expectation of Christ’s return. Neither one is faithfulness. Scripture asks for eyes open in both directions — alert to the times, and still planted where God has you.
How Do I Study Prophecy Without Getting Lost in Interpretation?
Start with what Scripture actually says, not with someone else’s timeline. Read the passage in context. Compare Scripture with Scripture instead of building a conclusion on one isolated verse. Be honest about the difference between what the text explicitly states and what Christians have inferred from it. Test what you hear, especially claims built around current events or dates. And ask the question that matters most: what does the truth I just learned require of me today? Stephen Nichols frames this well, encouraging readers to hold onto the larger picture of restoration and hope rather than getting lost in interpretive detail for its own sake (Questions to Ask When Reading Prophetic Scripture — Crossway, January 12, 2012).
If you’re a Christian woman building or rebuilding a business, this matters beyond your devotional life. Hours spent chasing prophecy content and competing interpretations are hours pulled straight out of the attention and decision-making capacity your business needs from you. Discernment here protects your ability to actually run what God has placed in your hands.
Should Christians Keep Working and Living Normally While Awaiting Christ?
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain" (1 Corinthians 9:24, KJV).
Your race may look nothing like another woman’s — your work, your business, your family, your ministry, your relationships, your growth in Christ. The point is that God has placed something in front of you, today, that you can faithfully steward. You couldn’t end the strike or move your exam date. But you could study, gather your friends, and keep moving toward the finish line. That’s what faithful waiting looks like in practice.
Take the Next Faithful Step in Front of You
You don’t need to know everything about tomorrow to obey God today. Ask what He’s asking you to steward, who He’s placed in front of you, what responsibility is already in your hands. Take the next faithful step — not the whole race, just the next step.
Occupy What God Has Entrusted to You While You Wait
This isn’t about building something impressive before Christ returns. It’s faithfully stewarding whatever He’s already placed in your hands, whether that’s large-scale or entirely personal — sharing your faith with one person, encouraging a discouraged believer, serving your family well, doing your job with integrity, building a small business, using your gifts where nobody else is watching. Kingdom influence isn’t measured only by scale. Faithfulness matters even when only one person ever sees it.
Should Christians Worry About the End Times?
It may be time to step back and re-center if every news event becomes a prophecy investigation, if fear is replacing hope, or if you’re spending more time consuming prophecy content than actually living out your faith. Watchfulness is not the same thing as preoccupation. Readiness is not the same thing as fear. Studying prophecy is not the same thing as predicting the future.
What Does It Mean to Be Ready for Christ’s Return?
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13, KJV).
The blessed hope isn’t simply information about what happens later — it gives believers a real reason to live differently now. Hope leads to readiness, readiness to holiness, holiness to faithfulness. You can look forward to Christ’s return without putting your present life on hold.
The Finish Line Matters — But You Still Have a Race to Run
You don’t have to understand every future event before you can faithfully live today. Take the next faithful step in front of you. Keep running the race God has placed before you.
What’s one thing God has already placed in front of you today that you can faithfully steward, whether or not you fully understand what’s still ahead?
If today’s teaching is stirring something in you about the pressure to have it all figured out, that’s exactly the kind of conversation we get into on the Set Apart Startup Podcast. Listen on Apple or on Podbean.
If you want to go deeper into the framework in this article, I put together the Blessed Hope Timeline — a visual Scripture-based study guide presenting the pre-tribulation view, built to help you study without losing your footing in speculation. And if you’re looking to understand biblical end-times prophecy in a way that’s easier to follow — how it could show up in everyday life — check our store for our featured novels on this topic.
Next Steps
Choose one thing God has already placed in front of you today, and take the next faithful step on it — not the whole race, just the next step.
Read next: Faith and Purpose During the Pandemic: When Everything Changed
Read more reflections: Faith Blogs
About the Author
Sim Lobo is the founder of A Unique Perspective. She helps Christian women solopreneurs find faith-led business clarity so they can start, rebuild, or simplify a small business with God through biblical wisdom, practical structure, and peace instead of pressure. Through Scripture-based teaching and practical resources, she equips women to build businesses rooted in stewardship, purpose, and faithful obedience.