Inspired by Psalm 74
“They set your sanctuary
on fire; they desecrated the dwelling place of your name, bringing it to the
ground. They said to themselves, ‘We
will utterly subdue them’; they burned all the meeting places of God in the
land.” Psalm 74:7-8
There have been many wars fought in the world, and many
strategies were used to claim victory.
Those who wanted to conquer a land but keep it intact allowed a number
of liberties for the conquered inhabitants and made relatively few changes to
their society, minimizing their desire to fight against their new rulers. But those who wanted to utterly destroy their
enemy didn’t stop at killing their bodies; they killed their families, they
killed their way of life, they killed their beliefs, they even tried to kill
their god.
But our God cannot be killed, and our belief in him does not
depend on physical structures. An enemy
can burn down every house of worship, desecrate and destroy every bible, but
God our King is from of old, working salvation in the earth, and his Spirit is
with us, showing us his ways, guiding us in his truths, and no enemy can ever
conquer that. Our bodies might be
killed, but we are more than our bodies, and once our bodies are dead our souls
are beyond the reach of our enemies, and in the presence of the One who will
ultimately triumph.
Human beings are capable of terrible destruction, but our God
created the world out of nothing, and he can rebuild whatever humanity tears
down. Whatever calamity befalls you,
whatever evils you must stand against, know that your Redeemer lives, and that
his love can overcome all the world’s hatred.
Let us pray. Eternal
Lord, you were before the beginning, and you will endure through the end. Comfort us in our trials, that we may be
strengthened by the knowledge that neither death nor life nor anything in all
creation will be able to separate us from your love. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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