Blessed Are Those Who Wait for Him

Prayer-Soldier

Blessed Are Those Who Wait for Him

Scripture:

You, O Lord, are our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is your name. Why have you made us to err, O Lord, from your ways: why have you hardened our heart, that we should not fear you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

O that you would rend the heavens, and would come down: the mountains would melt away at your presence.

When you shall do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: you did come down, and at your presence the mountains melted away. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye has not seen, O God, besides you, what things you have prepared for them that wait for you. You have met him that rejoices, and does justice: in your ways they shall remember you: Behold you are angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as polluted rags: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is none that calls upon your name: that rises up, and takes hold of you: you have hid your face from us, and has crushed us in the hand of our iniquity. And now, O Lord, you are our father, and we are clay: and you are our maker, and we all are the works of your hands. (Isaiah 63:16B-17, 19B, 64:2-7)

Grace to you and peace, from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Christ Jesus: That in all things you are made rich in him, in all utterance and in all knowledge; as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the days of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful: by whom you are called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:3-9)

Take heed, watch and pray. For you know not when the time is. Even as a man who, going into a far country, left his house and gave authority to his servants over every work and commanded the porter to watch. Watch you therefore (for you know not when the lord of the house comes, at evening, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning): Lest coming on a sudden, he finds you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch. (Mark 13:33-37)

Reflection:

From the time of the first of His creation, His people have turned to and away from Him. They struggle to comprehend what they do not see, though He is all around them. They struggle to comprehend what they feel within as He constantly knocks at their hearts. They struggle to comprehend what He asks of them, though it is found plainly in His Word.

We know God is always there, yet, so many turn away from Him for they do not wish to face their iniquities. To acknowledge Him also requires we acknowledge what He commands of us. To turn ourselves over to Him means we must turn away from selfish desires and offer ourselves to the ways of His love.

God commands the children of His creation to live by values which are right and just. Blessed are those who understand His plan for them, for where He seeks to guide them is to the joy of His commandments to love. The path to which He beckons is filled with rejoicing, but so many remain afraid for what it reveals of the sinful heart. They believe that to deny Him they will not need to face their failings, for if He does not exist, there is no sin.

Sad are those who do not recognize God within their lives, for they also fail to recognize His blessings. They do not see His glory or what He seeks for their hearts. They do not see how their soul decays without Him or how the world pollutes them. They do not see the vanity of their days in the moments their hearts are closed to Him.

Blessed are those who open themselves to Him and allow Him to guide their hearts for they shall find the happiness He has always intended for them. Blessed are those who seek to do His will, for they will find that which the world cannot deliver. He will mold them to become more than what is possible than by their hand alone.

The Father so loved the children of His creation, that He sent His only begotten Son to gather in all who are lost. The choice to respond to His call He has always left to them, but through His grace and mercy, He leaves the door open to those who turn to Him. Through His Holy Son, even the most corrupt may be forgiven of their iniquities should they chose to believe in Him. Despite our faults in what we have done and what we have failed to do, through prayer, we may humbly ask for His forgiveness. The Father will greet with open arms those who place their trust in His Holy Son, the Word made flesh, the Savior of the world.

Some will ponder, what does it matter what I do if, in the end, I shall receive the same reward as those who followed His every command? Should I not pursue my desires, then, demand the promise which was made to me? With such thoughts, we toy with the time we are given and we walk dangerously near the edge of the cliff to the abyss. As we walk the line of emptiness, we tempt the loss of our balance such that once we fall over, we are lost to the gravity which pulls us to eternal suffering. To keep safe our soul, we must watch for the signs, we must heed the warnings. In the darkness, we do not know where we step. Let us not tempt what evil may claim, rather, let us turn to Him in prayer so we may not be left out in the dark on the day of His coming. Let us wait in humble prayer so that we may be found among those He gathers to His kingdom when He comes to close the gate from the world.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier