“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Matthew 24:35
We place a great deal of trust, of hope and confidence in things of this world. We look to them for guidance and for encouragement when this world seems so hard and full of trials and challenges that would befall us. We see that wisdom of this world, we see the powers and the forces of this temporal existence and we come to regard them as the means by which the tools of justice and the instruments of righteousness can be wielded.
Yet the reality and the truth of this life is found in the simple words offered in by the Savior himself…
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away…”
The righteousness of the Lord and the power of His Holy hand, it does not rely on this world. All that we see, all that we know, it could pass away before our eyes, disappearing as we watch it fade away, or vanishing in a flash of light, until there was nothing left, until all we had ever known and ever looked upon, all we ever believed in or placed our trust in was gone, blown away as if caught in a mighty gale or a gust of wind. Yet the word of the Lord, the truth of His glory, the love of His hand that is guided by His tender mercy and gracious compassion, it remains… ever vigilant, ever faithful, it remains as a lasting testimony to His commitment and the promises He makes unto His children. “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5)
Come what may, come what must, the truth of the Lord, the righteousness of His hand, and the guiding presence of His Spirit, it contends with the cause of His children in the love that He has for them. It does not forsake them, even as the trials of this existence befall them and they are left with this deep yearning of the spirit, this deep longing of the soul that cries out for help amidst their troubles. For we know that as the Lord was there in the days of Israel, in the deliverance of Moses, through the challenges that would befall Isaiah, or the torment that would plague Jeremiah, so too shall He be there with us now, as He has been through each day, in every day, battling for our cause, throughout all our ordeals.
What an amazing comfort we have through those promises that He, our gracious and loving Father, offers unto us.
Still, throughout this world we see so much suffering, we see so much agony and anguish, so much pain and sorrow. We hear of the plight of the captives taken, the struggles of the hostages ripped from their homes and from their lives, their humanity held cheap. We see the pain of the slaves ruled over by the oppressive hands of the unrighteous, or we know of the torment of those girls taken from the streets and sold into bondage as sex slaves, their dignity robbed from them as they are held in such contempt.
We see, we hear and we know, wondering why the judgment of the Lord is so far off, wondering why it seems so distant from us as we see the chaos that is worked by wicked men of cruel iniquity and unrighteous ways. Those who hate and subjugate through brutality and anger, seeking to inflict themselves on the world.
Yet, in our trust we must know that the judgment of the Lord, it is not far off, nor will it allow for evil to reign in these places for all times. The Lord will work His will to light those dark places through the power of His spirit and He shall offer unto His children the encompassing mercy and compassion of His transcending love, given unto them through His gracious precepts as He contends mightily with their cause. He shall work His will to remove the powers of darkness that turn so readily from this world and from His love. He shall work His will according to His time and His way in that transcending power and that encompassing love that He has.
Know that the mercy of the Lord, the compassion of the Lord, it shall remain even if heaven and earth pass away, even if everything we ever saw before us, even if everything we ever placed our trust in of this world crumbles right before our eyes, there is nothing in this life that can compare to the majesty and the power, the glory of the Lord which shall come in all righteousness and that is revealed through His holy and divine word, as given unto us by the prophets and the apostles, the saints and the disciples, and taught us so readily by His Son, that Son that proved to us that the Word of the Lord is that deep and transcending Light of our lives. As He came to put to the greatest of captivities to flight, as He came to ransom us amidst even the darkest of trials that would seek to subjugate us, that would seek to dominate us. And through the power of the Cross He set us free according to His great love for us.
Trust in the Lord, in all things, through all things, and in the power of His might, for in all ages, through all ages, He is the one constant that remains.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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