It is tempting to despair. In light of the violence and corruption and blatant disregard of the rule of law, I was beginning to despair. What can one say about times like these? Pithy sayings and declarations of our own “pure” thoughts and motives fall short. There have been worse times. There may be worse times yet to come. Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of the end of our great Republic, or perhaps God will lead us to good times again. After all, it is God who raises up kings and nations (Dan. 2:21).
So I sat down to my Bible Reading this morning and, providentially, I began to read Isaiah 11.
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.His delight is in the fear of the LORD,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
This is the prophecy of the coming Kingdom! Christ (the Branch) will rule and reign for a thousand years. It hasn’t happened yet, and only Christ can bring it about. I was reminded in church this weekend about the importance of learning our eschatology, studying end time events. When we focus too much on this life whether it is feathering our nests or seeking justice in whatever form, we easily get off track too much. We begin seeking our treasures here on earth (Matt. 6:33).
My comfort is not in humanity, nor in future elections. My hope is not in future generations raised by grizzly moms, soccer moms, tiger moms, or any other super mom. My comfort is not in arranging my own little world with a good church, comfortable home, affirming friends. money in the bank, or healthy living.
The kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15) because He will one day come in power. “With righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth” (Is. 11:4). So we can do what we must in our own neck of the woods, we can strive in His power to right wrongs. But ultimately, we are seeking a better country, and we will die (unless the Lord comes in our lifetime) not ever seeing true justice or peace.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
THAT is the Kingdom I want to be a part of. He is the King I want to serve. I know that day is coming, and I’ll be there! Will you?
I stumbled across your blog while searching for church bulletin board inspiration.
I look forward to reading more of your devotionals.