How long?

“O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs— O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph? They utter speech, and speak insolent things; All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. They break in pieces Your people, O Lord, And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless. Yet they say, “The Lord does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob understand.””
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭94:1-7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

How long?

My heart is heavy these days. The Lord has given me a heart of compassion, replacing the old stoney one, that had little regard for others. I awaken during the night to attend to the body’s necessities, and I find myself pausing to consider the state of the world.

The darkness is upon us, as we are seeing the result of Lord slowly pulling back His fingers that have guarded the world and kept evil at bay. We are in the time where humanity is being given over to its desires, the innocent are bearing the burden of it all.

It is in these times that I call out to God, and wonder “how long?”

The Lord, like clockwork, provides the answer in His word, readied for me each morning. Reading Psalm ninety four, I was reminded of the timelessness of trouble, as this unknown writer of the psalm, from a time unknown, was dealing with the same issues that I was in the dark of the night.

“How long?”

The reality of evil is being played out before us, as the besieged Mariupol is being pounded mercilessly, so much so, that those trapped in buildings cannot be rescued, and the dead go unburied. It is like the book of Lamentations being played out in real time before us.

From the finite view of my flesh, I see only the evil, and I look for ways to stop it. I recalled the anguished cries at the beginning of this war, as I cried out to God to stop the heart of the evil Russian. The lord intervened in my heart, and moved me to begin praying for his salvation.

With each passing day, this is becoming harder. The Lord is reminding me daily that harder prayers are coming for those who call upon the name of the Lord. There is coming a day when to be a follower of Christ will be enough to bring about imprisonment or even death. But, even inn that coming darkness we will be called to go into all the world and take message of Jesus.

But we must remember, God has the final word.

“Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, And teach out of Your law, That You may give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance. But judgment will return to righteousness, And all the upright in heart will follow it.”
Psalms 94:12-15 NKJV

Though we may feel abandoned, we are not, for the Lord is playing the long game, the eternal one, where His plans will be fulfilled, and the evil doers will be cast into the lake of fire. Let us dwell on the goodness of God, rejoicing in His simple blessings, while we await the day when Jesus will bring justice to this world.

Even as we wait, a pit is truly being dug for the wicked, and it awaits. In the mean time, the Lord will not cast off His people, and He will be with them.

“If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, Have fellowship with You? They gather together against the life of the righteous, And condemn innocent blood. But the Lord has been my defense, And my God the rock of my refuge. He has brought on them their own iniquity, And shall cut them off in their own wickedness; The Lord our God shall cut them off.”
Psalms 94:18-23 NKJV

“Soon”

Brothers and sisters, we know the Lord is coming soon. We know things are going to get better, for now they are getting worse. Just as the pain of child birth gives way to joy, so too our suffering will result in a joy so immense and so eternal that we will rejoice for all time, as the light of the Father and Son replace the darkness of these present times.

Some of us, perhaps many, are going to see even darker times, as we draw nearer to the coming of the Lord. May we press on in the faith, seeking the Lord with the knowledge that He is aware of our suffering, our tribulation and all that we bear.

““I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” ’”
Revelation 2:9-11 NKJV

Indeed some of us will bear the ultimate indignity, as we may be slain for the cause of Christ. But let us not look upon this as loss, but as victory, for we have been blessed to go the way of our Forerunner Jesus.

“And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”
Revelation 6:10-11 NKJV

Let us look to these times with awe, as we are getting the opportunity to see what all those who have gone before us only dreamed of seeing.

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https://www.allaboutgod.com/the-roman-road.htm