April 15 | Revelation 1:4-8
DAILY READING
Revelation 1:4-8
REFLECTION
Anchor for My Soul
by Mary Alice McGinnis
Do you have a particular memory that stands out in your life? A pivotal moment in time. A place in the timeline of your life where things changed? Perhaps the life you had known in the previous pages of your life were coming undone right before your eyes. And in that moment the future seemed daunting, uncertain, and hopeless.
There is one such memory that stands out for me. It was a time when my life was coming undone, when everything I had dreamt my life would become was being stripped away and was utterly destroyed. The worst of those times was yet to come, but, as my life started to unravel, I sat in my home with my head cradled in my hands and I wept. In fact, I wailed so loudly that I felt like my insides were going to heave out. I sobbed so hard I could barely catch my breath. I was fearful that my tears were such a vast ocean that I would surely drown in them.
As I sat there weeping, in my anguish, I started to question, “God, how could you allow this to happen? If you really love me, where are you?”
As I lifted my head to take a breath, my gaze was drawn to a picture on my wall.
It was as if I had been transported to Jesus’ feet, and He was reaching out His hands to me. I pictured myself crawling up into Jesus’ lap. He picked me up and wrapped His loving arms around me. As I felt His strong embrace, He told Me that I was not forsaken, but indeed He had hold of me through this time and even forever.
Do you have times where you question, “Does God really love me?” Maybe things in your past haunt you. Maybe present circumstances seem overwhelmingly painful and uncertain. Maybe the future seems impossible and hopeless.
Today’s scripture points us to a pivotal moment. It is a moment in time that changed everything. It is that time to which that all previous history was pointing, and to which our future hope is secured.
God - the One who IS and WAS and IS TO COME – the Great I AM – sent Jesus, His only Son into our world.
He LOVED US so much that He paid the price of His own Son’s precious blood to free us. If God could have found another way, don’t you think He would have done it? Even in the Garden, Jesus prayed in anguish, “Father, take this cup from Me. But not My will, but YOUR’s be done.”
If you find yourself questioning God’s love, if you ever need PROOF of God’s love for you, don’t look at your current circumstances. Don’t dwell on all the hardships and difficulties of this life. Look to this point in time. Jesus on the cross for YOU. Anchor your soul there.
“To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”
Even when life seems it’s darkest, anchor your soul here - Jesus is also coming back!
“Look, He is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.”
We can hold fast to His eternal love and His unshakeable promises because He is the Almighty, “the one who has His hand on everything.” Unlike human beings who are feeble and fickle, He is both powerful and His unconditional love for us is steadfast.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.”
Jesus our King, who perfectly loves us for all eternally, has sovereign control over everything – past, present, and future. He holds both infinite power and unchanging love for us in His Almighty hands.
Amen! Amen!
PRAYER PRACTICE
Lift your heart is this confident prayer of praise for His love right now.
I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin
