Sara and I had a fulfilling weekend in Calgary, sharing with a group of people some of the dynamics essential to relational community, and then in the afternoon, Sara and I shared about God’s faithfulness through our trauma story and how God shows up with his deepest love in our darkest places.
Monday, we toured Banff National Park (see above), yet another place where God’s Creation expresses his majesty and his wonder. The mountains, rivers, and lakes refreshed our hearts and restored our souls. This morning, we drove through some of that region as we began our journey home. We are in Cranbrook, AB, for the next two days, and then we will be in Coeur d’Alene over the weekend. From there, we’re headed home, across Washington to the Sea-Tac area, and then south on I-5 through Portland, Redding, and points south.
Throughout this trip, Sara and I are even more aware of just how much the events of the last three years have altered our journey in ways we could not have imagined. At that time, I was contemplating what life would look like if without Sara, and whether or not I could continue to help others if my life to that moment had been a lie.
Then, God gave me a vision of a spaceship hurtling through the stars. Slowly, a large, orange, Jupiter-sized planet came into view from the left. As the craft whizzed past the planet, its course was bent by the gravity of that planet, and it shot off in a completely different direction. The thought in my head was, “This will change the trajectory of your life, but it will lead to beautiful places.
That has certainly been true. When Sara returned and we sorted out the bad counsel she had received, I knew that her discovery of trauma would decisively affect everything about our lives. On this trip, we are still discovering what that means and how Jesus is inviting us to live in these days, helping people with trauma, traveling less, and, most importantly, what it means to live inside a love that is greater than the darkest things evil can dish out.
God is always the loving hand working beneath the darkness to bring his redemption to bear on the assaults of evil. When your best-laid plans turn on a dime, we all need to know God still has a way through for us. He can take our new reality, as painful as it is, and work great good out of it. Let his glory unfold in you, especially when circumstances change your trajectory. Don’t cling to the plan of the past, but let God write a new script that will lead you to more beautiful places.
Most of the underlying themes that allowed me to let God shift my trajectory can be found in my newest book: It’s Time: Letters to the Bride of Christ at the End of the Age. It’s about the transformation that love can work into a heart that can prepare them to face any ordeal and come out with a deeper appreciation and practice in love and trust. You can order it in paperback ($10.99) or e-book ($8.99).
And now, the audiobook is available ($17.46 from Amazon), in which I get to read my own words for those of you who want to listen to the tones and inflections I had in mind when I wrote it. I’m so glad to have it available in this format. You can listen to a preview of the audiobook in the player below:
Let me close with a review I received last week about this book:
Wayne Jacobsen’s It’s Time! is a tender, urgent call to the heart of every believer who dares to ask: What if Jesus is coming back sooner than we think—and are we living like it matters? In this moving collection of spiritual letters, Jacobsen writes not with fear or fanaticism, but with deep love and prophetic insight—guiding Christ’s followers into readiness not just for His return, but for the kind of radiant, resilient faith needed in these final hours.
Drawing from the imagery of the Bride of Christ, Jacobsen paints a portrait of a people set apart—longing not for escape, but for intimacy with the Bridegroom. His tone is pastoral and poetic, rooted in Scripture and overflowing with wisdom born of experience and prayer. As he walks the hills near his home and listens to the whisper of the Spirit, he passes on that whisper to us—reminding us of what it means to live faithfully in an age clouded by darkness and deception.
This is not apocalyptic speculation. It’s spiritual preparation. With honesty and clarity, Jacobsen reminds us that whether Christ returns in 10 years or 150, there must always be a generation willing to:
- Love beyond self-preservation
- Shine brighter than the lies of the age
- Walk in unshakable trust amid the shaking of nations
- Anchor hope not in outcomes, but in God’s sovereign story
What makes It’s Time! so compelling is that it doesn’t scream for attention—it sings. It calls quietly, yet powerfully, to the Bride of Christ to awaken, to prepare, and to live as though eternity is nearer than we think.
