Scripture--Revelation 8-10
Observation--We are about to begin a series in Revive examining images or attributes of God. So I've been thinking and praying a lot about what God looks like. What God IS like. How God acts.
And the more I study and pray. The more I realize I know so little! I love to put God in my box and make God act and behave and look like I need or want or picture!
Today's lesson reminded me of this again! Did you hear all the awful things that happened? Locusts that ate the people. Hail and Fire. Mountains thrown into the sea. Stars flung into the depths of the earth. This doesn't sound like the God I know. It scares me and saddens me.
Application:
But, I don't have to understand God, for God to be good. I don't have to like what happens for me to love God. I think of it like people. I don't always like people. I shouldn't admit that--I'm a pastor, I should like everyone! But I don't. Sometimes people grate on my nerves. Sometimes I've asked for things 10,000,000 times and its still not on my desk, or in my hands. Sometimes people say mean things or do evil. I don't always like people.
But that's the beauty of being Christian. I don't always like people--but I always love them. I love them despite. I love them because that's my call. And if I believe that God works the same way--that God loves through everything--then if God is really like this--bringing wrath--then there must be something behind it. I don't have to understand everything that happens, but I have to love inspite of it.
If I can love people when they are unlovable. I surely can love God when I'm not sure I agree. I love God. I honor God. I worship God. And for today, that's more important than understanding Revelation!
Prayer: God, you are amazing. Let me remember you are bigger than I am. Better than I know. Let me be small, so you can be great. Let me be still so you can work. Let me be quiet so you can speak. Amen.
Blessings--
Pastor Emily
3 comments:
This scripture was hard to read for me... reading all the scary things makes me sad. At the end of chapter nine the scripture reads that after 1/3 of people were killed, the others (who I'm guessing had endured the previous woes), still didn't repent. They still had a chance, but didn't. Were they stubborn or just blind to what was going on (or why it was happening). Certainly I'm not surrounded by anything so horrible in my life as mass death and 5 months of scorpion-like bites to torture me, but sometimes I am just as blind to God in my life.
Today, at lunch, Ansley kept wanting to pray and list thing we were thankful for... but it made me realize that it's easy for me to just say... ok, that's enough! But wow, there really is so much I usually let whirl by and blindly ignore instead of using it as worship to God. May I worship like the angels in heaven... Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God!!! Amen!
Emily- You skipped Chapter 7. Today was 7-9, not 8-10. Oops!
Anyway in 7 he talks about the seal on the foreheads of the servants of God and the great multitude from every nation that sing praises to God, the ones who came through the great tribulation. Do you think the Christians being persecuted in John's time were comforted to hear about God marking His servants who had been through tribulation? His servants who would live through the terrible things that were described in 8 & 9. I think these words would give them courage, hope and strength to live through their trials. The part about the multitude in the white robes makes me think about Women of Faith. I went several years ago to WoF at Phillips Arena and the place was packed with Christian women of all ages singing praises to God, each with their own trials. I'm sure heaven will be even bigger and better
See Mom! I got through the WHOLE THING until now without doing this! GRR. Well 8/31's post is wrong too! I'll catch up on 9/1!
Thanks for catching it! Glad you could help us with what I missed!
Blessings everyone!
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