Good Grief
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘’The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.“ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’”
Looming Lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccination mandates, and passports, woke Olympics, and on it goes! This past week and even into this week I have heard many buzzwords. These words or phrases seem to invoke a lot of thoughts and emotions in people. At times it just takes the uttering of one of these words or phrases to shatter the peace in the room. And even though these things are the state of the world we are living in today, they are not the ultimate world we look to and long for as Christians.
In Revelation, the angel of the Lord is talking to several churches and reminding them what is good, what they need to remember, and how their vision of the world, no matter the circumstance needs to be focused on Christ! The above passage stood out to me as I thought about all I was hearing these past weeks and months.
Jesus, who is the Lord of all and is over all, should always be our hope! He died for our sin and came back to life bringing assurance that the new life He offers and the Kingdom He will bring are a sure thing. So, faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction or firmly held belief that we will receive the things that we have yet to see. This world and all its chaos is not the end, it's just part of the journey to a far better kingdom.
Not only do we have hope in what's to come, but we have a savior who sees us at this moment. Jesus is not surprised by what we are living through right now. He sees it all and the angel brings the encouragement that we do not have to fear. Jesus is the righteous judge, who will bring justice to every slander, every persecution, every wrong. While we may feel that we are becoming poorer and things are being taken from us, the reality is we are co-heirs with Christ! While we may feel impoverished, we are rich!
It may feel daunting if we, like Peter, who when walking on the water with Jesus became overwhelmed by the waves and began to sink, if we focus on the culture. But Christ rescued Peter and He will rescue us as well. Satan in this revelation passage was about to test the church and no doubt he will test the church once again. Some of us may end up having to make sacrifices we wish we had not needed to make and some have already ended up in prison.
The testing however is limited to a season. It’s always a season. It may be for a lifetime or a brief moment, but either way, the trial will come to a conclusion in our lives. Also, remember the Lord allows the test to occur. In his sovereignty, the test is one in which our faith matures and our hope is strengthened and our view of Christ becomes clearer. The angel says to be faithful to death and receive the crown of life. This is probably not the end many of us look forward to, but the point is that He will strengthen us to the end as we look to Him and the assurance of our salvation, the crown of life will be attained. Maybe a better way to think of it is like Paul when he says to the church in Philippi, “for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
I love the book, So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Lief Enger. In that story, two men, a young man, and an old man are about to face a horrible storm. The young man is scared and worried, but the old man is calm and at peace. The young man then says in his recollection of that moment, “In times of dread it’s good to have an old man along. An old man has seen worse.”
In times of dread, or the calamity in which we find ourselves, we have “an old man.” We have the Old Man, the Ancient of Days, God himself with us. And He has seen it all and tells us “do not fear.” And if we just place our hand in His, we will be conquerors in this trial and will inherit all that God has promised!
So, don’t let the buzzwords distract you this week, and if they do, remember that Christ has died and risen from the dead so that you don’t have to fear or give in to the emotional turmoil of this world. Remember what the Lord tells us in Isaiah, “you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Prayer
Father, thank you for helping us and encouraging us when everything around us seems to be going wrong and spinning out of control! Thank you for being our strength and when we are weak, and seeing us when we feel alone. Jesus, may we grow to love you more as we see you more clearly in the testing. And may we too pray and proclaim, “for us to live is Christ and to die is gain!” Amen.
