READING: Revelation 6-11
I needed today’s reading from the book of Revelation—particularly, Revelation 6:9-11. This text takes us into a most powerful, emotional scene of Christian martyrs crying out to the Lord, “How long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” These had been killed on earth (see Rev 18:24), and some had been likely been beheaded (see Rev 20:4). They had been faithful to the Word of God and had lived lives that testified to the power and grace of the sovereign God. Their cry was not an unfaithful one; it was simply an honest and relevant cry for justice.
The Lord’s answer pointed to opposition to believers still ongoing, but the essence of His answer was, “rest a little while longer.” These faithful believers were to rest in peace and blessedness (Rev 14:13); that is, they were to wait on God’s plan, viewing “a little while longer” from an eternal perspective and always knowing that God’s timing is forever perfect. They needed the reminder that, as one writer describes it, “God works according to his own timetable, . . . God will vindicate his people, but he will do it in his time, not ours.”*
“God will do it in His time, not ours.” My situation is drastically different from these martyrs, and I would never want to write anything that diminishes the witness of their faithfulness—but I do know that I, too, need to hear quite often these same words: “rest a little while longer.” In my impatience and hurry, I don’t like to wait for God to answer. I often don’t rest well when the situation forces me to wait. Even at my age, after following the Lord for decades, I still have much to learn about God’s timing and my trust.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you need to hear these same words today?
PRAYER: “God, help me to rest in the center of Your will, even when I don’t always understand it.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Revelation 12-17
* Barton, B. B. (2000). Revelation (G. R. Osborne, Ed.; p. 76). Tyndale House Publishers.
