Wednesday 8/15/2012 6:07 AM
I went for my regular early morning run today and as I
turned eastward I noticed the moon, hanging in the eastern sky like a fingernail
clipping. It was difficult to see
because of the thinness of the crescent but also because the lightening sky was
washing out its meager reflection of the sun’s rays.
The thought of a fingernail sent my mind wandering and
eventually conjured up the image of a cartoon character hanging on to a ledge
by its fingernails, struggling to hang on but recognizing the futility of its
effort and the inevitability of a fall.
A voice inside my head told me that the fragile, waning moon pretty
accurately describes my faith life at the moment, trying to hang on to God and
reflect him in the world while slowly fading away, washed out by the wider
world around me.
As I continued running the Spirit reminded me that the
devil feels the same way, like he’s hanging on by his fingernails. He has had his way in the world for a long
time, masquerading as an angel of light, but he has been defeated and the
kingdom of God is now forcefully advancing, so much so that the gates of hell
will not be able to withstand it. As G.
F. Handel states in The Hallelujah Chorus,
“The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his
Christ.”
While my attempts to reflect
the love and nature of God in the world may seem feeble and insignificant to me
and to others around me, nevertheless, God uses them to bring about his
kingdom. Why God chooses to use
imperfect people to bring about his will is a mystery to me but thank God, his
kingdom will come regardless.
No comments:
Post a Comment