Exiled.

This week, my pastor, taught an incredible sermon from the first chapter of Revelation. As I returned to Scripture to spend some more time with the text, but more importantly, with the author, some things became apparent. These things could really alter our perspective when we find ourselves seemingly alone in unfamiliar territory, while all others are moving through their journeys in a more predictable pattern and pace.

First, as my pastor shared, is that the book of Revelation is not so much a book written solely about Christ's second coming or the end times, but it is a revelation of who Christ is in His holiness and sovereignty. The book of Revelation brings forth hope, anticipation of a new Heaven and a new Earth, God's ultimate triumph over evil, and challenges believers to fully trust in Christ.

But here's the part that got me from the start.

John, the writer of Revelation, is persecuted by the Roman emperor and exiled to the island of Patmos for his faith. Patmos is an island in the Aegean Sea that is a rocky, barren, and rugged. A place that is least likely to be fertile, in other words, John was sent to a place that was sterile and unable to bear or produce fruit. Patmos literally means "my killing." This place is so barren it could have become the death of him. But contrary to man's plan, Life bursts forth anyhow. It's in this seemingly most unfruitful place that he encounters the living God and is given the visions, messages, and promises that produce the book of Revelation- a full scope of Christ as the King who came and won, the King who comes and wins, and the King who is coming and will reign forevermore! The Lord shows up for John when nothing else can or will in this place of exile.

Here's what I see: Life. Circumstances. They can seem to isolate us and exile us. When everyone else is getting married and we're.... single. When everyone else is having babies and we're...not. When everyone else is retiring with great retirement plans and we're... living paycheck to paycheck. When everyone else is climbing those career ladders, and we're... parenting. When everyone else is empty nesting and we're... changing diapers. When everyone else is graduating and we're... not even accepted or enrolled yet. When others are walking in freedom, but secretly we're... so engulfed in sin there seems no way out. But sometimes it's in those isolated, lonely, barren times in the physical that the gates of Heaven are flinging wide open. Our Father can rush in like the wind and become so intimately involved with us in life's darkest or most challenging moments. When expectations are left unmet because we've placed them in the wrong things. There's Jesus. He is a redeemer after all. He is the way, the Truth, and the Light, after all! He has come for us, He is with us, and never will He forsake us. Ya'll running ain't the answer, unless you're running to Him.(I'm Cajun. It happens:)

Life is about so much more than what meets the eye. We serve a God who knows what lays ahead and like every good parent, He is more intent on equipping you in love than camouflaging you in the crowd for your comfort. He will call your name, call you out, and create in you a new heart that's about His business. The predictable and patterned paces that we see and crave do not necessarily position us for our good or His glory. May you see the Father's full embrace of you today and His fingerprints on every step you take. May you receive the season you are in as a blessing and not as a curse- the words we speak, the thoughts we entertain, and the attitudes we choose drastically change things. May you come to a deeper understanding, belief, and trust in His Word over you- it's spoken over you in love!

Isaiah 55:8-9 New King James Version (NKJV)

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts

Romans 12 New King James Version (NKJV)

Living Sacrifices to God

12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

#Exiled #Differentsnotbad #Sterileplaces