It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast. - Revelation 1:10
If you were to visit the beautiful island of Patmos, you might be cured of feeling sorry for John who was exiled there “for preaching the word of God and speaking about Jesus” (Revelation 1:9). Yet though his surroundings were beautiful, the island was still his prison.
But no exile or prison could stop John from worshiping. John wrote, “It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit” (Revelation 1:10). When John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day, he saw the Lord as he had never seen him before! Suffering for this testimony of Jesus did not cloud the face of God but rather revealed it (Revelation 1:12-16).
Perhaps it’s hard for you to be “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day. Maybe you feel like you are on an island, isolated by circumstances, separated against your will from those you love. If you will stay in touch with the God who has allowed these circumstances, you will see Jesus as you have never seen him before. So don’t waste the pain.
Suffering helps you see God as you’ve never seen him before—just as John did. It also helps you see aspects of Jesus’ character in a whole new way—just as John did. Once, on the Mount of Transfiguration, John had seen the glory of God in Christ; here he saw more of that glory. Whenever we are “in the Spirit,” God will show himself to us. We can let suffering drive us deeper into God and know that he’s waiting.
For Further Study: Hebrews 11:1-2
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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