Kingdom Work

Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem!
Rejoice in the Lord your God!
For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
Once more the autumn rains will come,
as well as the rains of spring…

“Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.
But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,…” Joel 2:23, 28-32 (NLT)

This has been a favorite Scripture of mine. While it is certainly for the time and people that the prophet Joel was speaking, it has also been a divine promise that I have grabbed on to during some very difficult times.

I have felt the dry burning desert of time when I felt I was being tested. I have wondered if God remembered that He sent me out there! Then when it seems I am at the end of my rope (yes, I tied a knot in it and was hanging on!), God sends a cool, refreshing rain. It may have been verses like these. It may have been an unexpected blessing that only I knew was a cry from my heart. My Father didn’t forget me.

“Then” God gives me promises of what is to come. I weep thinking that God would use me, you, our children to continue His extraordinary Kingdom work.

He will use dreams and visions. This is where many may pull the covers over their heads. God is going to use means that are – difficult to quantify and often do not fit into our church programs and human preconceived ideas. The prophet records God’s words and they are scary. The sun goes dark and the moon turns to blood red. God says when He comes it will be a “great and terrible day”. Frankly I think that when God appears ‘great’ and ‘terrible’ may come to my mind.

And then comes the “But”. EVERYONE who calls on God will be rescued from the eternal fire. Everyone. God, great and terrible, is Savior. He is the only One who can save us, His children. He is the only One who can make promises and be trusted to keep His promises.

I believe that the future will be hard. I believe this world will continue to deteriorate. I believe that God is trying to teach me to believe beyond what my human eyes and mind can verify with science. I believe that I will have to lean on my relationship with God that He is building with me every day. I will use faith, trust, and hope in my every day language. God is doing Kingdom work and I want to be a part of that.