Good Use of Isolation

brown wooden seat on gray concrete road during daytime

“God, what are you doing?” “Why now”? “Lord, don’t you see what is happening?” These can be the cries of many people during desperation, confusion, exhaustion, or isolation.

Can you relate to these pleas? Paul spoke of similar feelings in 2 Corinthians 7:5; “We are harassed at every turn.”  We enter these seasons where no matter what we do or don’t do, it feels like the whole world is against us.

I can only imagine what John the Apostle was crying out as the Romans took him to the isolated island of Patmos. John was sent there to silence him from preaching the Gospel and encouraging and giving hope to Christians. The blessing of John being so-called “silenced” was where the Lord used the quiet isolation of Patmos to pull back the curtain of eternity and reveal a vision that John preserved in the book Revelation.

Immediately, in Revelation 3:1, through John’s desperation and isolation, God gives us these words; “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

The Lord is always guiding our perspective, and Revelation does just that. This last book is more like the beginning of hope, with a view of worship and your purpose here and for eternity.

Don’t be afraid to read Revelation. It has always been implied that it is a “scary” book. And no one seems to understand it. But I can tell you from experience after reading Revelation a few times the insight helped me fill in some holes I had about the Gospel, the purpose of life, and the importance of investing in eternity. God even promises us if we read it, listen, and obey, we will be blessed—no other verse in the Bible comes with that promise.

 

Lord, thank you for the mighty book of Revelation. How you used John as the writing utensil to bring us hope and perspective as we live on this earth until you take us home was so compassionate. Father, as we read this book, bring us insight into what You want us to hear and obey. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tanya Magnus

Tanya Magnus

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