The Power of Rest

Revelations

Perhaps something bigger than the Apocalypse has already been set in motion. Not in the way we expected, with fire raining down from the heavens or black horseman thundering on the horizon.  Instead, as with many profound shifts, change has come quietly, hidden deep in the hearts of people who yearn and tirelessly work towards peace. 

"We can do better", they whisper. "We must."

A just and good society requires citizens to turn the wheels of change. God, combined with our desire for goodness, may bank and stir the fires of our hearts. But nothing of substance will occur until we become  the revolution we know the world needs, and turn ourselves over to action. 

This, then, must become our Apocalypse. The revealing, the pulling back of the curtain to show what has been, what could be, and what must be done. Our world awaits, not simply for the revelation of the  Apocalypse, but for a total revolution of the heart, mind and soul of mankind.

More than 2000 years ago, change came to the world in an unlikely and surprising way.  A tiny baby, born in a manger. The ancient world had its hopes pinned on a king of kings, a war like and fearsome deliverer. They weren’t expecting a baby who would grow into a carpenter, ultimately willing to die for his revolutionary message of love, grace and acceptance.

Christ spread his message of universal love and acceptance, but not from the vantage point of a flaming chariot. His life and followers spurred a living, breathing revolution, one that would rock the very foundations of the world.

"Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me. Open wide your hands to the poor and needy. Anyone soul left to live in oppression by an unjust, uncaring society becomes an insult to the God who granted us life."

Somehow, in the intervening generations, the bold nature of Christ's revolutionay message of outreach and radical love has grown dilute. Amid wars, famine, injustice and disease, it is in danger of being drowned out entirely.

Perhaps if we examine our apocalyptic fears in keeping with the gentle, unexpected way God sent Christ more than 2000 years ago, we will recognize that God’s Apocalypse has already begun. But it snuck in quietly, with signposts even the faithful  and observant could easily miss in our haste. 

Standing in a cacophony of voices, fists raised, fingers pointing out others' transgressions, we threaten to drown out God’s whispered answer. It has been floating in the ether since time began, accessible only when we’ve exhausted our vain and pious efforts at being God. So, when we’ve fallen silent on the ground before a God we no longer trust, He can begin to make inroads into our hardened, world weary hearts.

Then, we become bold enough to ask the question. One which frightens us more than the end of the world, more even than the gaping jaws of hell. This is our personal Apocalypse, but with it arrives the answer, the revelation we've long sought.

Bewildered, so angry that we can hardly choke out our long list of strangled accusations, we accuse God of failure.

“Why, God, have you abandoned us? Where were you in our hour of need, when we were starving? When we were alone in the hospital? Losing our children? Rotting with disease and riddled with pain? Why did you hide your face when wars raged and the blackness threatened to blot out humanity like an all consuming fire?”

God will reach down in our times of Apocalypse to answer this fearsome question. But we must have ready ears and a heart willing in order to properly absorb His answer.

“I was there. Always. Waiting within. Seeking purchase to move your hands and feet. But each time I called, you fought to turn away and return to a life of ease. I searched for solid ground, anywhere the light and truth of my presence could find strength. In the gathering storm, I knew we would prevail, but only with your open heart and mind. Without it, there would be no change. So I waited. And those I called you to carry waited. For the revolution to begin.”

As God gently excavates and reveals our hidden faults, the injustice in our ways and imbalance in our actions, he will erase the years of inaction and the misappropriation of his Word. From above, He watches, expectant and waiting for his children to to reveal and heal their brokenness. 

When we do our part to bind up the wounds of the world, to right the wrongs and heal the oppressed and broken hearted, then and only then will God move to restore the world to its rightful state of glory and perfection. The nations thirst for goodness, and the world will rage towards peace until our hearts rise up  to quell its brokenness.

So let us stop watching the skies for the end and start to live our lives as if the Apocalypse has begun. Perhaps the revelations we find unearthed in our hearts will have the power to heal this world and bring about the ultimate revolution God has called for all along.

 "The highest revelation is that God is in every man.” Ralph Waldo Emerson