Lord, you say, ‘Love neither the world nor the things of it, for they are passing’. You say You must remove the things that can be shaken; they must give way to Your kingdom rule. When I hear it, my spirit rejoices that Your justice is sweeping through this earth to set things in their rightful order. My inner man longs and waits for the time when evil is once-and-for-all ended, and You will be King over all the earth and Your name alone worshipped. Your kingdom come; Your will be done. Yet, there’s a part of me that fails to distinguish the separation and cries out with the words of a song I heard long ago, ‘Have mercy on my foolishness dear Lord, for I love this world You made. It’s all I know’. Everything around me is my familiar, my every day. I awaken to its influence every morning and rehearse its affairs every night before I sleep. I’ve savored the good it’s offered and endured the bad—and made necessary adjustments to survive it. So, I tremble at seeing this world’s birth pangs beginning to take place. Days of drastic transition when You strike Satan’s strongholds in Your fury—when his mountains of opposition to Your kingdom are scattered and his hills brought low before their Maker. I tremble at the violence of Your shaking his foundations to the core and Your axe taken to his root. Your kingdom come; Your will be done. I tremble at the thought of Satan’s rage as Your presence pries his deadly fingers from our necks and his burdens are lifted from our shoulders. Will he retaliate with deadly arrows and attempt to devour Your children as he’s routed from his earthly abode? Your kingdom come; Your will be done. I tremble at the thought of my familiar being stripped away and my tangible supports fading. When what I’ve known dissolves before the purifying fire of Your presence and I am left to lean upon You alone. Your kingdom come; Your will be done. Will I survive the affliction and storm-tossed stripping of the enemy’s influence upon my heart? Will the pain be too great for me to bear? Will the longings of my heart finally be satisfied and my soul sigh with relief when it is delivered? Lord, take me to where the fragments of my life are laid to rest in Your beautiful design. Where the trembling of uncertainty gives way to the foundation of knowing You and my feet stand sure upon the Rock that is higher than I. Build my towers, my battlements with the blood of Your passion, so that I, too, overcome with the love that is strong as death. Wash away clutter that blinds me from seeing from Your perspective. Clean the windows of my mind with Your Truth so that the brightness of Your glory shines undistorted through its panes. Shape my walls with Your wisdom so that my borders fall in pleasant places and I glory in my portion as a garden enclosed for You. Be my strength, my courage, my invincible force as . . .
Your kingdom comes and Your will is done in me.
(Habakkuk 3/1John 2:15/Zechariah 14:9/Hebrews 12:25-27/City of Gold-1997 Gold Records/Isaiah 54:10-17/Luke:11:2/Song 4:12/Song 8:6)
Photo by Bob Williamson