erica's turn! :)

i was reading through revelation 9, and the last verse of the passage really struck me:

20The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

the whole chapter describes God's judgment on the earth, all the different plagues that he brings upon the inhabitants of earth, and still they will not repent. it reminds me of all the different chapters i've also been reading in Isaiah (for instance isaiah 30:17-18), where God allows all these things to happen to Judah so that it will finally repent and come back to him. i really pray that my heart will never be hardened, especially not to that extent - so that even though God is screaming for my attention, i completely ignore him.

this chapter also reminds me of romans 1:18-28, where it says that

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

again, no matter how hard God tries to get their attention, they ignore him.

another thing from this passage that really struck me was God's sovereignty over everything - even as all these horrible disasters happen, God dictates when people can be killed, and when they can only be tortured (4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.). all these horrible things are happening, but God is still completely in control of what is happening. it reminds me of the times when horrible things happen in my own life, and i doubt whether or not God is still sovereign.

one last observation, hahah. i realize this post is getting long.

4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

this promise, that those who God marked out as his own cannot be harmed, is so powerful and so poignant. i love how in ch. 7 God explicitly orders that nothing can be harmed until he has gone through the earth and marked out who belongs to him. it reminds me of another passage in Isaiah (sorry, been reading too much of isaiah lately, i guess, hahah):

8 And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it. [a]

9 No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,

10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

ok. that is all for me. i just got back from morning prayer not so long ago, and i've been feeling really refreshed, because for the past couple days i've been spending some really good quality time praying to God. i encourage you guys to do it too! prayer really is how i invite God and give him permission to come and do whatever he wants in my life, and i always end up feeing really refreshed after a good time of prayer :) hope everybody's summer's been awesome!

love,
erica

p.s. sorry i haven't been keeping up on people's posts >< i promise i will try to read them once i get the chance.