"I am… the bright morning star.”
I love this picture that Jesus gives of himself in Revelation 22:16. Professor Darrell W. Johnson illuminates it well:
"The morning star usually appears at the darkest time of the night (about two or three o'clock in the morning). … When it appears there is no sign of the dawn. But when it appears, very faint and small at first, you know that the night cannot withstand the dawn; it is only a matter of time until the dawn wipes the night away."
Thank you, Lord, that in the depths of this night – whole nations of people lost in idolatry, the sex trade, abortion, ISIS slaughtering people in the name of "God", corporate and personal greed, young black men and women being gunned down, sexual immorality celebrated as the norm, rampant poverty, immigrants oppressed, churches burned and temples bombed, hypocritical Christians, and all the stubborn evil in my own heart – you are the bright morning star that gives us hope. The dawn will come; this nightmare will end.
Help us, Jesus, to keep our eyes fixed on you (Hebrews 12:2), that we may press on until that day when your people and your beautiful creation are renewed in the light of your kingdom, like a sunrise flooding over a breathtaking landscape hidden in darkness.
Till that day, help us pray
Through all we cannot explain;
Be our hope, help us know
That when all seems lost, You still reign.
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