Zecharaiah 14:1-21
Revelation 20:1-15
Psalm 148:1-14
Proverbs 31:8-9
I was very stressed out today. Or, in Pastor Scott's words, I was F.I.N.E. - frustrated, insecure, neurotic and exhausted. Bad enough I struggled to get a good night's rest (I had no idea how loudly my nine year old snored!) but then I got home and came face to face with a couple of long standing issues which, coupled with an extended lack of exercise, caused great anger and frustration in me. I should've gotten to my Bible earlier - the readings today would have calmed me down. After all (as we saw last week), we already know how this story is going to end - with our Lord triumphant, the faithful united with Him, and the devil "thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown". So whatever I am struggling with today might demand attention, but certainly does not warrant frustration nor worry.
And just when I realize I have no reason to worry, I also realize I have no reason to struggle. The second thing that struck me was how God's people did not have to fight - God did the fighting. All they had to do was hunker down in His love and protection. I struggle with that concept quite a bit - I still feel as though I have to be doing something - after all, I'm an adult, I'm a man, I'm a father and husband. I should be doing something, shouldn't I?
The strangest associations come to you late at night, I have to say. This one is from a book I read a long time ago, when it first came out - "Patriot Games", by Tom Clancy. For those unfamiliar with the story, our main protagonist, ex Marine and erstwhile historian and London tourist Jack Ryan has just saved The Prince of Wales, his wife (Diana, presumably) and their infant firstborn from a terrorist attack. Ryan took on the terrorists, while the prince, a naval officer himself, found himself trapped in the car, his body over those of his wife and his child, while a Yank he'd never met saved their collective bacon. Cut to a scene in the hospital where the prince first meets Ryan while the latter is recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered in the battle. The conversation is strained, the prince is obviously F.I.N.E. Ryan reads the situation, barks at the prince to sit down, and analyzes the incident, whereupon it becomes clear (1) the prince was in no position to do anything and (2) the best thing he could do was hunker down with his family and count on reinforcements.
I don't know about anyone else reading this, but that is the story of my life. There is a battle being fought, and I am neither strong enough nor skilled enough to join the fray. All I can do is count on our Lord's help, and hunker down with my family and hope my actions help them learn to do the same. The great thing is that, in two of today's readings, we are reassured that the Lord fights the battle for us. In Zecharaiah, the survivors of the attacks do not counterattack; instead, "they go up year after year to worship the King". Because we read before this that "the Lord will go out and fight against those nations", and we read of "the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem", and how the "Lord will bring on [any of the peoples of the earth (who) do not go up...to worship the Lord] the plague he inflicts...". And then again in Revelation we read that while Satan will be released from his prison...to deceive the nations", "fire came down from heaven and devoured them." That wasn't my fire - that was the Lord's.
And so as I write my final blog for the year, I am grateful for the two reminders God gives a worry-wart like me: the battle is won, and I didn't even have to fight it. I've been blessed to have written this blog for part of this year; even more so for having come on this journey reading the Bible in 365 days. We are going to do it again next year - I hope you will join us.
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