Light Up the Night

"Light up the night." That was the phrase that came to me over and over as I read through Revelation 2-3, the letters to the seven churches. 

Every church had struggles unique to itself: and Jesus addressed all of them. The church in Ephesus had forsaken their first love, the church in Smyrna struggled with poverty, the church in Pergamum allowed themselves immoral pleasures while still pretending to be faithful to God (the practices of the Nicolaitans), the church in Thyatira tolerated a prominent woman in their church who called herself a prophetess, but lived immorally, and also had some who believed that one had to deeply experience sin in order to defeat Satan. The church in Sardis was just... dead. The church in Philadelphia had little strength, the church in Laodicea was wealthy, blessed, and lukewarm - vomitous, say my footnotes.

Jesus had something to say to each one of those churches, the common theme being: To him who overcomes, I will give... 

We have the promise of overcoming! Jesus never said we wouldn't have trouble. How it hurts my heart when people say: "If there is a God, why is there pain and suffering?" 

Because sin. 

Jesus weeps right along with us. In the pandemic, He's wept, on Sept. 11, 2001, He wept, during the Jewish holocaust, He wept, during genocides and mass destruction and pain and heartache and disease and sickness and terror and darkness, He's wept since sin entered His beautiful creation. 

Romans 8:20-22: "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." 

But God gives hope! 

"Yes, but how do you know?" the piping voices of my children ask me; they want things they can see. "Mommy, how can you know Jesus is there?" 

"Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what He already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently" (Romans 8:24-25). 

1 Corinthians 13:12 says: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 

To know fully! To see finally! That my faith may be sight! I am so, so excited about that day when the night will peel away and the glory of God becomes the sun!

Over and over, to the seven churches, Jesus says: "To him who overcomes, I will give..." Hope first. And then the fulfillment of that hope. When perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 

I thought about that yesterday as I was taking a walk in the absolutely gorgeous autumn weather. It was crisp and cool, the leaves were changing, the sky was peerless blue. And I thought: How much better when perfection comes? Here, when the imperfect still holds the beauty of creation, how much more when perfection comes? 

I walked past two people coming the opposite way. One had a mask, the other didn't, but as I approached, she swiftly put up her arms and wrapped them around her face. I respect the care we all need; I gave them a wide berth, but it served as a reminder: the sickness and pain in this world is not over. 

Creation groans inwardly as we wait eagerly. James 5:7-9: "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming (He is coming; don't lose sight of that!). See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door." 

Back to the final church in Revelation 3, the Laodicean church, which I think is the one most like the church in America. Wealthy, unneedy for too long, so that we've become stagnant, stale, lukewarm. 

"'I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." 

As I prayed for the church in America and the wider church throughout the world, I heard the Lord say: "Light up the night." I had a bird's eye view of the land in the darkness, and all over, I saw points of light, brilliant in the night, but still small. More joined the first, and more. There were large patches of light, and there were small single units. It looked very similar to flying over cities at night. But they were not streetlights; they were followers of Jesus, true seekers of God's heart, on their knees, lighting up the night, praying earnestly, praying fervently, praying effectively. 

Y'all, the night - it's dark. There are some intense times coming for the church. I've heard it, I sensed it; the Lord shows it in Scripture. But please, please don't forget this: "To him who overcomes... I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21). 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). 

Y'all, He's right there. God is not distant. He's not far off, wondering if maybe He should check in on earth now and then. He's at the door, right on the other side. The only thing you need to do is open the door of your heart, let Him in. 

Because there is a time coming, and I believe it's soon, where the harvest fields will be emptied and the door to the storehouses will be shut. Please, don't get left out in the cold. "To him who overcomes, I will give..." 

Thank you, Lord, for your perfect gifts. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).