It’s funny how experience brings to life stories in the Bible that we’ve read but never quite grasped.

Mathew 25:1-13, The Parable of the 10 Virgins and their Lamps, has always been a source of struggle for me. I never quite understood why the bridegroom would refuse them entry. It’s not the overall meaning of being prepared for Christ’s return that I struggled with, it was the details of the parable itself. Really, what’s wrong with being fashionably late to a party?

My husband has deployed twice. My heart breaks when he leaves, there just isn’t another way to say it. From the moment he walks away from us and stands in that final formation before heading off to war, I am already planning his return. He hasn’t even left yet and already I am thinking of his homecoming.

During John’s first deployment I grew weary. Exhaustion was part of my every day and yet I never stopped preparing. John’s return could occur at any time. Yes, it was scheduled from a year to the date of when he left but nothing is ever final in the Army. An injury, a family emergency, the needs of the Army or a Military withdrawal could bring him home.

The 2009 withdrawal brought many of my friends’ soldiers home in late July early August, 4 months sooner than scheduled. Of our church members, John was the only one who remained. I watched eagerly as friends welcomed home their men and anxiously awaited my own phone call. It soon became apparent that John’s job was not yet done and he would serve out the remainder of his year.

Due to security reasons we are not told the exact date or time of our husbands return. We are given a week window, which could change. Then as the day comes closer we are given a day, which could change. Then the day of we are given a time, which could and often does change.

Sleep did not come easily that last month. Everything I did, from scrubbing baseboards to loosing those last few pounds to buying new outfits for me and the kids to stuffing our fridge with his favorites, was all in preparation of his return. The idea that I would become complacent and not do everything possible to welcome him home is absurd and offensive. No matter how tired I became the forefront of my thoughts was on our reuniting.

I have heard so many horror stories of men returning from home and their wife not being present to greet them only to discover an empty house or changed locks.

Now when I read Mathew 25:1-13 there are so many layers to dive into. The 5 wise virgins who brought enough oil are not unlike the Army Wives who keep “the fire on the homefront lit.” The women in the story and the wives surrounding me eagerly await the bridegrooms return. They are respecting and honoring the men they are waiting on by being prepared at any hour. The 5 foolish virgins are not prepared because they are thinking only of their immediate needs and expect the bridegrooms return on their time schedule. Suddenly the meaning of the passage found in verse 13, to stay alert because we do not know the day or the time, has become so alive to me.

I eagerly await my Father in heaven’s return and though I do not know the day or the hour I prepare as if it could be any moment or still far in the future. It is not about whether or not He will return in my life time. It is about showing the One Man who gave His life for me that I value, respect, and honor Him. It is about preparing my heart, and though at times I may grow weary, every moment I am aware that He could return for me now and I want to be ready.

Is there a parable of the Bible you have struggled with? Comment below.