How Long, Sovereign Lord? (Revelation 6:10)

 


Saturday, November 16, 2024


Psalm 38

Susannah 34-64

Revelation 6:1-11


How Long, Sovereign Lord? (Revelation 6:10)


A great result of reading through our scriptures with an eye to Christ’s victory that happens not just in the future but here and now is that it excites us. And so we should! Future history isn’t a downward spiral into the big crash; it is an ever-upwards rise from glory to glory, and God has placed each of us into a pre-determined, specifically intended section of this ascent.


But this isn’t to say we are without problems. Jesus promised his followers that, should we leave everything for the sake of the gospel, we would receive a hundred-fold of what we left behind – with persecutions. The last remnants of Satan’s rebellion still remain to folded up, and he really doesn’t want what is coming to him.


Yet in spite of the best efforts of the opponents of the gospel, our Lord is sovereign. The martyrs cry out for justice, and they cry out to the sovereign Lord, the Lord who has all things in the palm of his hand, the Lord who controls and allows all things, and brings all things to good for those who love him. Justice is coming, says the Lord, but there are still more stories to be lived, more martyrs to proclaim the gospel, more persecutions to be overcome by those who hold close to the Lord.


From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible proclaims the Lord our God as sovereign over all things. He can never be outwitted; nothing can happen without his say-so. Everything comes from his glory, and returns to him in glory. And he tells us this about him so that we may be at peace, confident in his abiding love for us and protection over us.


What are you struggling with at the moment? Are you concerned that things might spiralling out of God’s control? What does the truth of God’s sovereignty say to your current struggles?


Sovereign Lord, holy and true: give us the patience to wait a little longer until the number of our fellow servants may be brought into your kingdom; and give us the faith to hold to the end, so that we may be given the white robe of your righteousness.

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