Assembly Required – November 22, 2022

The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.
Revelation 22:6

Assembly Required

“Some assembly required.” Those can be dreadful words. You purchase a new bookcase, and before you know it, parts and pieces are strewn all over the floor while you pore over the directions. “Insert hardware piece A into side panel 12. Insert hardware piece B into shelf C. Tighten bolt DD with locking nut FF.” By the time you get to step 22-3a, you lose patience and try to figure things out on your own. But just when you think you are done, you are concerned that there is still one board, four nuts, and three brackets. For a completely assembled product, you need to follow the steps in order.

From the beginning, God has proved himself a God of order. He didn’t create the fish on day five and then slap his forehead, “Ugh! I forgot to create water.” Creation had an order. So too, on the other end of the world’s timeline, God is all about order. Certain things must take place before this world comes to an end. We may not know all the “things that must soon take place,” but “the Lord, the God who inspires the prophets,” showed us what we need to know. From the rest of the Bible, we know some steps are quite difficult—wars, natural disasters, persecution. These “things” may not be easy, but according to the God of order, they are necessary.

Such things can be disturbing. But they ought not be surprising. And the fact that the God of order said this is how it would happen brings us great comfort. For it assures us that when this world seems to be spinning out of control, our God is still the One in control. And he is the One who will see us through these things until we reach the perfect new world; he has promised all those who place their trust in Jesus as their Savior from sin and hope for heaven.

Prayer:
Lord, assure me that everything I see happening in the world is still according to your great plan. Amen.