My son Kent, the author, from years of life and ministry in Haiti, has seen and experienced much more of poverty, destruction and life's sorrows than I have. Working with the extreme poverty and the severe destruction from the 2010 earthquake, Kent often refers to the psalmist's cry "How long, O Lord?"
We know that the ancient Israelites longed for the coming of their promised Messiah. Often they must have wondered "How long, O Lord?"
In the darkness of Easter Saturday, caught between what appeared to be the ultimate tragedy of Good Friday and the glorious triumph of Easter Sunday, the women and men who were the closest disciples of our Lord, must have been wondering "How long O Lord?"They thought Jesus was bringing God's ultimate Light and then with His death they were plunged into what must have seemed like ultimate darkness and disappointment.
Recently I have been reading through the Psalms and noting verses that say things like "All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name." Psalm 86:9 Place this beside what our Lord taught us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
Are we moving any closer to the fulfillment of this prayer or of the psalmists prediction? Like most of you, I have prayed for my home nation and for the work of God in other nations for many years. No doubt that living in Vietnam, and recent conferences with international groups first in Malaysia, then recently in Dubai, have heightened my world awareness. As I think about the physical suffering and spiritual darkness in our world; as I pray daily for different parts of our world, I find myself now more frequently praying "How long, O Lord?"
As ambassadors for King Jesus we must do all we can to help His influence and His rule increase in lives, in communities and in nations. But we anticipate the wonderful era when Jesus will rule over the New Heaven and New Earth. At the end of the NT we read "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes I am coming soon." Given the world's history and the world's present state I want to respond: "But Lord, you haven't come and it has now been 2,000 years!" And I suppose given His eternal perspective, our Lord would patiently reply, "Nelson, it has only been 2 days." (II Peter 3:8)
With the Good News of the Cross and Resurrection, we must continue to faithfully serve Him and serve others. We must continue to pray for His work locally and around the world. We join with Paul and with John in praying "Come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20; I Corinthians 16:22 And I really, really hope it won't be too long, O Lord.
We know that the ancient Israelites longed for the coming of their promised Messiah. Often they must have wondered "How long, O Lord?"
In the darkness of Easter Saturday, caught between what appeared to be the ultimate tragedy of Good Friday and the glorious triumph of Easter Sunday, the women and men who were the closest disciples of our Lord, must have been wondering "How long O Lord?"They thought Jesus was bringing God's ultimate Light and then with His death they were plunged into what must have seemed like ultimate darkness and disappointment.
Recently I have been reading through the Psalms and noting verses that say things like "All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name." Psalm 86:9 Place this beside what our Lord taught us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
Are we moving any closer to the fulfillment of this prayer or of the psalmists prediction? Like most of you, I have prayed for my home nation and for the work of God in other nations for many years. No doubt that living in Vietnam, and recent conferences with international groups first in Malaysia, then recently in Dubai, have heightened my world awareness. As I think about the physical suffering and spiritual darkness in our world; as I pray daily for different parts of our world, I find myself now more frequently praying "How long, O Lord?"
As ambassadors for King Jesus we must do all we can to help His influence and His rule increase in lives, in communities and in nations. But we anticipate the wonderful era when Jesus will rule over the New Heaven and New Earth. At the end of the NT we read "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes I am coming soon." Given the world's history and the world's present state I want to respond: "But Lord, you haven't come and it has now been 2,000 years!" And I suppose given His eternal perspective, our Lord would patiently reply, "Nelson, it has only been 2 days." (II Peter 3:8)
With the Good News of the Cross and Resurrection, we must continue to faithfully serve Him and serve others. We must continue to pray for His work locally and around the world. We join with Paul and with John in praying "Come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20; I Corinthians 16:22 And I really, really hope it won't be too long, O Lord.
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