Nothing Is Wasted

Reading: Lamentations 1-2; Obadiah; Revelation 14 12 Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately patient, keeping God’s commands, staying faithful to Jesus. 13 I heard a voice out of Heaven, “Write this: Blessed are those who die in the Master from now on; how blessed to die that way!” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “and blessed rest from their hard, hard work. None of what they’ve done is wasted; God blesses them for it all in the end.” (Revelation 14:12-13 MSG) There’s a lot going on in heaven and earth that is way above our paygrade! In Revelation 13 and 14, there’s terrible persecution and devastating judgment happening on earth, and there’s pure and perfect worship happening in heaven. While all this is going on, God’s people stand passionately patient, keeping God’s commands to love and not hate, and staying faithful to Jesus. And the Spirit says that none of what they’ve done – their hard work, their passionate patience – is wasted. God blesses them for it all in the end. For me, this is about living in the tension between faithfulness in the present and putting my expectations on eternity. That’s not easy, but I’m working on it. Placing my expectation of blessing and reward on eternity is an exercise in discipline and faith. Living a passionately patient life here and now is an exercise in discipline, faith, and trust!

Paul says, “26 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. 27 He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. 28 That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” (Romans 8:26-28 MSG) Prayer:

Father, Please help me in this life-long process of learning to live in two worlds, the world of now (passionately patient) and the world of eternity (passionately patient). I’m thankful for your assurance that when I’m so very aware of how little I control, you remind me that you control it all. And thanks for reminding me that nothing – not anything – we’ve done for you is wasted. Amen.