When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see Him. From what he had heard about Him, he hoped to see Him perform some miracle. Luke 23:8.

You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8.

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23.

And our chapter, Revelation 10: I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

In a video yesterday, John Ortberg said all of Scripture and the people we read about are a mirror showing us ourselves. Can we sit with that awhile? Do we think we wouldn’t be like Jonah who ran away from his calling to preach to Nineveh and who sulked when the people were not destroyed? How about Herod wanting to be entertained with miracles? Can we appreciate that all of creation is a miracle? Can we see that all the events being played out in our world today will follow their natural course to end, and more will follow to their end. And God’s truth and our hope in Him is what will remain! As Revelation shows us, there will be a time that there will be delay no longer. Imagine being John as he is witness to the vision of it unfolding. What helps me living now in all the uncertainties of this world flowing and ebbing, is Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. Jesus, Creator God, entered into our world as one of us – and into our pain and suffering, and our joy, and our love shared and experienced. He entered into all of it. And He has never left us. He is our strength and our comfort as we turn to Him. He is our hope. I love that I can turn to Him when I am confused and worried to distraction. I love that as I see something beautiful I can say, WOW…did you see that! – and know He does, and He delights in that with me. That is what sharing life with God is all about – sharing everything in real time and knowing comfort and hope because He IS and we are His dearly loved. I can’t begin to comprehend all the sorrows of this world but this I do know, that He is the One who gives us the strength we need as we go through our share of them. He is the One who helps us grow and learn through our suffering, the very sufferings that teach us lessons so needed by us to help us see and know what is real – that it is our God who is Love and He is our help always – and not this world! It isn’t in an easy life that we are strengthened. It’s in trusting Him in the trials that would seek to break us. No one in this life is unscathed by trials of pain, ridicule, hardship, sorrow, fear and confusion, desperation, persecution. But those who turn to God find Him. And then our true journey with Him begins as we live this life we have been given – a miracle! Because with Him we finally find the answers we need as we are able to understand and each answer leads to more understanding and more understanding! Every answer is Him!