Hope for the Future

Jim:

Zechariah 1:7-17
I found verses 12 and 13 to be comforting. “Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?’ Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.” As is often the case in scripture—in the Psalms especially, and in conversations between Abraham and God, Moses and God, and Job and God—we see that God is willing to listen and to respond to questions and even complaints. There is no earnest question we can not raise to God. Out of our most heartfelt anguish we may call on God, question God’s motives, call ourselves to God’s attention, wonder at what God is doing. And in graciousness God responds. We will not always know what God is doing, but we can trust God to be conversant with God’s people.

Revelation 1:4-20
I found the words in verses 5b-6 to be very similar to one of my favorite passages elsewhere. “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priest serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” This is a lot like 1 Peter 2:9 which says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” I love the passage in 1 Peter because the first time I remember hearing it, it gave me a real sense of belonging, of purpose, of hope. The words in Revelation echo the same sentiments and give me the same sense of hope. Taken with the words from Zechariah, I find comfort and optimism as I look to the future, both mine and the world’s.