This year’s Old Testament readings bring me to a point of wonder. How is it that the people of Israel continue to exist when the nations and powers that surrounded them from the very beginning are memories… dust. Nehemiah tells me that the enemies within were as dangerous as external threats.
Is this not true about myself? Yes the culture I live in may threaten to undo me, but more than often, I am my own worst enemy. Like Nehemiah, I do my best to clean house, but ultimately, I rely on the grace of God,
“Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.” Nehemiah 13:22.
The preservation of the people of Israel as our own salvation, are signs and whispers of purposes and battle plans worked out on a level which I have very limited understanding (refer to what’s transpiring in Revelation 8). There is a heavenly battle being waged as I write this. Again, I don’t understand how this all works out, but I do understand two things:
- What happens here and how I pray influences what’s going on in a heaven and what transpires here on earth (“The smoke of the incense and the prayers of the saints went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightening and an earthquake.” Revelation 8:4-5). I do not pretend to know how all this works except that….
- In the end, Jesus triumphs over death through his work on the cross and resurrection. Satan is defeated.
Our lives may look ordinary and feel powerless, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. God can and will accomplish His purposes for and through us. We are part of a plan that is much greater than ourselves. May we be faithful to follow and not grow discouraged.
Klueh
Sixty-six books in a year 