Born into a Storm
I was born into a storm. I didn't know where it started, or where it would end, but my introduction to existence was a in the midst of a storm. Can you imagine being born into a hundred year snowstorm? Wind swirling, everything cold, and barren and white? If that is all you had known since the time of your birth, it would seem normal. Boots would be the only logical shoes, and shorts would make no sense. If you saw suntan lotion or a picnic basket, you would have no good context for what to do with them...they would seem silly and useless.
The storm I was born into was birthed by the introduction of rebellion into a perfect world. God created everything,and it was "very good." God committed to love, which required a choice. For love, God put a choice for rebellion in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, a storm came upon the earth. God's desire to have a royal family equally committed to a voluntary relationship of love was rebelled against. God did not force what He desired upon mankind, the object of His love, because that would NOT be love!
For the last 8,000 years, by most accounts, a storm has been raging on the earth. It is colder than it was made to be, much more barren than it really is. It doesn't look or feel the same as it did when Adam and Eve walked the paths in the Garden, but it is only a storm. It has been a relatively long storm, that is true, but like all storms, it will end. According to the words Jesus gave us, and what we can see happening in the world, it will be over soon.
When it is over, the earth will begin returning to what it was intended to be. The coldness will fade away, and the barrenness will return to life. Heaven, or the place where God dwells, is coming here. In the light of His presence, things that seem silly now, will be shown to be wise, and things that many think are valuable now will be shown to be worthless.
We are all eternal, born once never to cease existing. Eternal existence is guaranteed to all, like it or not. In a million years, the storm will have surely passed. In a trillion years, it will be just a memory. In the face of unlimited time, even a trillion years is just getting started.
God's desire never ceased being "God with man." He has a plan to end the storm. It has been foretold since the storm started in the Garden, and it is culminating in the fulfillment of all that has been promised even as we watch right now. We live in a time all generations have longed to see. We live in a promised generation. Jesus is the one executing the plan. He is so confident of His plan, that even though strong winds and forces oppose Him, He has written it out for all to see. This brilliant plan is the Book of Revelation. The plan describes Jesus brilliant intention to calm the storm from the inside out. From the heart, to the families, to the cities, to all of creation. It is a plan to use the least intense means necessary, to reach the most people, and the deepest heart level, without ever violating His commitment to love...without ever violating free will. Because of love, those who refuse him will certainly be allowed to, but this brilliant plan is promised to end the storm.
Those who agree with the storm, who want to try and build their eternity in the cold snow and blowing wind absent of the one who owns it all, who have no desire for seeing the world the way God called very good, will be blown away with the wind or washed away with the melting snow. What is built on the snow will collapse as it melts away. But those who long for the land to be very good, who agree with God about what is to come, who are willing to dig through the snow to build on solid ground, will see what they dream of now, what they build now, will last through the storm and will be a shining monument to love, commitment, and insight when the snow is gone land is very good again.
We are all just getting started. Very good days, in a very good land, with an awesome God are about to begin soon. We don't have to wait to start building with Him. If I will ask Him to help me see what He is doing now, I can build things that will last through the storm and someday see them in the very good land.
Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; 2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. 7 The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
The storm I was born into was birthed by the introduction of rebellion into a perfect world. God created everything,and it was "very good." God committed to love, which required a choice. For love, God put a choice for rebellion in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, a storm came upon the earth. God's desire to have a royal family equally committed to a voluntary relationship of love was rebelled against. God did not force what He desired upon mankind, the object of His love, because that would NOT be love!
For the last 8,000 years, by most accounts, a storm has been raging on the earth. It is colder than it was made to be, much more barren than it really is. It doesn't look or feel the same as it did when Adam and Eve walked the paths in the Garden, but it is only a storm. It has been a relatively long storm, that is true, but like all storms, it will end. According to the words Jesus gave us, and what we can see happening in the world, it will be over soon.
When it is over, the earth will begin returning to what it was intended to be. The coldness will fade away, and the barrenness will return to life. Heaven, or the place where God dwells, is coming here. In the light of His presence, things that seem silly now, will be shown to be wise, and things that many think are valuable now will be shown to be worthless.
We are all eternal, born once never to cease existing. Eternal existence is guaranteed to all, like it or not. In a million years, the storm will have surely passed. In a trillion years, it will be just a memory. In the face of unlimited time, even a trillion years is just getting started.
God's desire never ceased being "God with man." He has a plan to end the storm. It has been foretold since the storm started in the Garden, and it is culminating in the fulfillment of all that has been promised even as we watch right now. We live in a time all generations have longed to see. We live in a promised generation. Jesus is the one executing the plan. He is so confident of His plan, that even though strong winds and forces oppose Him, He has written it out for all to see. This brilliant plan is the Book of Revelation. The plan describes Jesus brilliant intention to calm the storm from the inside out. From the heart, to the families, to the cities, to all of creation. It is a plan to use the least intense means necessary, to reach the most people, and the deepest heart level, without ever violating His commitment to love...without ever violating free will. Because of love, those who refuse him will certainly be allowed to, but this brilliant plan is promised to end the storm.
Those who agree with the storm, who want to try and build their eternity in the cold snow and blowing wind absent of the one who owns it all, who have no desire for seeing the world the way God called very good, will be blown away with the wind or washed away with the melting snow. What is built on the snow will collapse as it melts away. But those who long for the land to be very good, who agree with God about what is to come, who are willing to dig through the snow to build on solid ground, will see what they dream of now, what they build now, will last through the storm and will be a shining monument to love, commitment, and insight when the snow is gone land is very good again.
We are all just getting started. Very good days, in a very good land, with an awesome God are about to begin soon. We don't have to wait to start building with Him. If I will ask Him to help me see what He is doing now, I can build things that will last through the storm and someday see them in the very good land.
Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; 2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. 7 The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
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