My Lord and my God,
I can relate to John the Baptist. Even though he seemingly knew from his mother’s womb that You were the Messiah (Luke 1:41), and many years later was the one to prepare the way for You and perform Your baptism, he still had doubts. He was stuck in jail. He would soon have his head chopped off. Things were not looking good. And in the moment where he needed to rely on You the most, he doubted. His doubt crept in from a misunderstanding of who the Messiah should really be. He was thinking about an earthly king who would rule and reign physically in their present time. Yet You had bigger and better plans. Your plan looked like a failure. Your plan didn’t make sense. Yet, Your plan was determined from eternity past and was no mistake. Like John, it’s easy to forget the magnificent miracles I’ve seen You perform in my life, and the lives of those around me. The greatest miracle You perform, I believe, is turning wicked people with hearts that hate you into God-exalting, Christ-worshiping, Spirit-filled believers. Death to life. Like the dry bones coming to life by the Breath in Ezekiel 36, You are in the process of redeeming a people by replacing hearts of stones with hearts of flesh. The fact that You’ve done this in my life – solely because of Your sovereign choice and not based on any merit or goodness in me – testifies to the fact that You are still ruling and reigning, though not physically in sight as we will one Day see. Every time the gospel goes forth, the Kingdom expands, and Your reign is made known in the hearts of people. It’s amazing! So, when things aren’t looking bright, when life seems grim and the darkness surrounds me, remind me of the grace that has transformed my life. Remind me of your plan. Remind me of the fact that You are presently reigning, ruling and working. Don’t let me redefine You and make You out to be some cold, distant, impotent god. That’s not who You are. You are THE Messiah. My Lord, and my God.
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.” Psalm 138:8
Thank You Lord for the grace which sustains me, the love which upholds me, and the hope which spurs me on.
Amen.
