Christ Wins. August 23, 2020, 243

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

- Romans 16:20

In our final message on Biblical faithful women, we looked at Romans 16. In verse 20 we see Paul giving weary believers hope.   

All followers of Christ need reminding that God wins. We need to know that Satan, the one who persecutes us at every turn, every day, comes to an end befitting his evil nature.

The peace that will one day flood our environment is hard to imagine at the moment. Our lives seem to be under different kinds of persecution from morning to dark and even through the night. When we are deep in oppression and cannot see our way out, we often think there's no end to it, or no hope of rest. 

Do you remember Steven Curtis Chapman's song, Jesus Will Meet You There? 

Each line has power and understanding of our plight, like this one:

When you think you've hit the bottom

And the bottom gives way

And you fall into a darkness

No words can explain

And you don't know how you make it out alive

Jesus will meet you there.

Job, the man of patience, fell into darkness which no words could explain. His grief was so great that his visiting friends didn't speak to him for an entire week. They just sat there. Stripped of everything other than his wife and spirit, he was smitten with boils from head to foot. Pain was everywhere, and loss was like thick darkness around him. He knew not from where this hurricane of grief came, it just appeared one day and left its trail of destruction and despair.  

Yet, under the piles of this satanic rubble was a light. As days went by that light got stronger and more defined. That light was from Job. The devilish wrecking ball demolished everything but that light. Why? It was lit by God himself but the wick was from the faith of Job. 

Sometimes we feel as if we've been smitten by the boils of life, sitting on the ground in disbelief of what has happened, and even think "How could this happen?"

We feel the pain every day. It could be the pain and destructive nature of a chronic illness, it might be the troubles of our children or the ageing of our parents, or even the encumbrance of our own feelings of worthlessness, where all we can do is raise our hand to our Saviour and pray for help. Sometimes, even that is done in despair. 

Within all believers is the same light that was found in Job. Carnage and loss can be all around us and in those times we think the wick is dimmed. Yet, it becomes brighter as we appeal to Jesus Christ. The wick is turned up and the light gets brighter, it just seems dim because it's covered by the rubble of our dilemma. 

In times of uncertainty, and we all have them, hang in there as Job did. A day is coming when all this will change. In Revelation 21:3-5 the Lord tells us so dearly and preciously: 

"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new."

All things new? 

Job was brutally robbed of everything dear to him. Whether they were inanimate objects or living beings, it didn't matter to Satan. All Satan really wanted to do is destroy the light within Job, so he attacked and eliminated his valuables, those with and without breath. Satan could not destroy the source of Job's light, his faith, and neither can he with our faith.

In the end, God made all things new for Job. Job 42:12, "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:"

God may not make all things new for us in this life, but upon the bruising and crushing of Satan under our feet, will come a relief, comfort and day of joy we never thought possible.

If you are sitting in the ashes in your boils of life, if it feels as if the wrecking ball has gone through and left you numb to what just happened, do not lose hope. Keep praying, keep your hope alive, maintain your faith and keep the light burning. Jesus is nearer to you than you realise, and he understands pain. There is a time when all things will be made new for you, just stay alight, even under the rubble. 

Today's prayer: Dear Lord, when I am going through tribulation, please help me to not lose hope, but to keep my faith burning bright. Please put your arms around me, comfort me and bring me through.