endurance and expectation

unrest and upheaval

I often find myself wondering if the days we are living in are part of a long dream. I have to remind myself that this is real and that God is present. He has a plan. The unrest, the rage, the fear, and the pride are intensifying. The world is in upheaval again. One giant birthpang after another rolls over us. The earth is in labour, and I am amazed to be alive in such a time. 

In childbirth, there is pain and intense physical, spiritual, and mental work for the woman.  However, the enduring of these things—a sacrifice of comfort—brings life and something wondrous at the end. To me it is a picture of redemption: a price is paid for deliverance. A sacrifice is made for rescue. The glory of the expectation received makes up for the hardship.

There seem to be two meanings for the word redeem; though they are closely connected, they’re not quite the same. For clarity, I’m going to focus on the meaning in which the good that comes from the hardship makes up for what was endured (i.e. The baby arrives after the pain of labour).

what is happening?

Habakkuk wondered at the troubling events he saw unfolding before him. He saw terrible things happening and he wondered why God was allowing it. God’s answer? “Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you” (Habakkuk 1:5 NKJV). God was working in those days. Justice would be met.

Picture yourself in the position of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt as the plagues came down. They must have been struck by terror and wonder at what was happening around them as they were invited by God through Moses to step out of their bondage into His freedom. God was working in those days. Deliverance would come.

Think of your coming into the kingdom of Light out of the darkness. Was there a rocky, uncomfortable bottom that came first before you were lifted out and born anew? New life was given in exchange for the distress.

My point is that the contractions, the pain, the waves of intense squeezing we feel in our world today and in our nations and in our lives will signify—for those who trust in God our Redeemer—something wondrous to be born.

The times are evil. The earth is groaning.

Deliverance is at hand.

God is faithful

Evil times are evident all throughout Scripture. Those evil times are redeemed by God’s glory and goodness and mercy time and time again. What is to be any different about our own evil days? Won’t God, who is unchanging, redeem these times as well? “Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3).

God has a plan. We know this and can trust that the trials and tribulations now and still to come will be used for our good. 

God redeems. Additionally, I see that we, too, must do as we see our Father doing. We have a part in the redeeming of evil days!

redeeming the time

In Ephesians 5:15 Paul instructs the church to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” So too in Colossians 4:5 he tells them to “walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time”(NKJV). In other words, make the most of it!

Part of our purpose right now is to walk alongside our Lord, under His yoke of gentleness and meekness. We walk as He walks. We live believing. And in believing we give thanks and praise His name. We believe that God is God. We believe He is good. We believe He is not idle. We believe He is powerful. We believe that as our nations and neighbours experience these birth pangs, the Lord will redeem these events. For those who love and trust in Him, what is birthed will not just be the wind but will be something wondrous and Living.

So as these contractions squeeze the earth and all that is in it, as the nations rage and the people groan, we set to work in response to seeing the Father at work. We make the most of every opportunity to bring hope to light. We are the redeemed of the Lord, we are “sealed for the day of redemption,” so let us be wise and prudent. Let us understand what is God’s will for us.

We are meant to be a sanctified, believing people of praise and thanksgiving and prayer, who are filled with the Spirit “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:19-21 NKJV).

let the redeemed of the Lord say so

The world as we know it is being shaken. People are scared. But we know what comes next. We know there is Light to be had … and so we sing. There is an inheritance beyond what is visible … and so we praise. We were rescued “to give thanks” and to “triumph in His praise,” (Ps 106:47 NKJV), so that hope is made known and that faith might spring from it to those around us.

This is our sacrifice, pleasing to the Lord as we offer it: the fruit of lips that openly speak the name of Jesus. This is how we echo our Redeeming God: through Jesus, in continual sacrifices of praise, “not forgetting to do good and to share with others.” These are sacrifices pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:15-16 NIV) and they are our part in redeeming the time we find ourselves in.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

For his mercy endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”

Psalm 107:1-2 (NKJV)