When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.
Then the dragon tried to drown the woman with a flood of water that flowed from his mouth. But the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that gushed out from the mouth of the dragon. And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus. Revelation 12:13-17
Jesus loves his wife. This last book untangles all the knotted threads of the Bible and weaves for us a love story between Christ and his people. From her birth in a nomad tent, to her orphan years in Egypt, to her adoption at Sinai, to the love affair of the desert, to the honeymoon of Canaanland, to the days of infidelity, to the estrangement of exile, to the reconciliation and return to the land, and finally to the birth of their only Son Jesus, and now the waiting and longing.
Jesus loves his wife and cannot wait to be with her. In seasons of revival the church begins to get close to longing for Jesus the way he pines for her.
Jesus loves his bride enough not only to let her be with him, but also to let her go through this season of separation from him. Part of God’s love is to allow his people to experience hardship. How can this be love? Because as any couple weathered by marriage can attest, the hard times are where the love is deepest. It’s only as the dragon is breathing fire that Jesus can show his people that he is with them.
If we are in Christ, we are in the middle of this. What belongs to the church is the privilege of each person who belongs. Jesus proves his love for his people by rescuing them just in time. And those who stay close to God’s people also stay close to the strong arm of Jesus. In the darkest hours God has a habit of showing up.
This calls me to stay in the centre of this love affair. It also stirs me to remind God’s people to respond to Jesus as he reaches out to them. Every act of God’s saving help is another reaching of his hand to people he loves so very much.
Father help me on one hand to preach the message of reality, that suffering is not a sign of your lack of interest but proof of your love for us. Suffering proves that you are a God of real life not of fiction and your salvation shows how much you love us. And help me to stir your people to reach out to you as you reach out to them with your salvation. Amen.
