Happy New year!
You’ve made it.
I don’t know what kind of year you’ve had. For many of us there will have been special moments and there will have been dark moments. Hopefully you’ve had more good than bad moments.
Whatever season you are in, let me encourage you with verse that jumped out at me during my reading this morning:
“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”
Isaiah 33:17
This verse was spoken by the Prophet to God’s people during times of deep political turbulence, spiritual wanderings, and divine judgement. It was a dark season. Yet in the darkness, the Lord speaks this word to His people.
“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.”
That’s what following Jesus is all about. That’s why we fight the fight of faith. That’s why we keep turning up. That’s why we dig in to his Word, even when things feel spiritually barren, emotionally confusing, and mentally weary. Your eyes will see the King.
Faithfulness is never found in the mountain top, it’s always formed in the valleys.
But the valley is not the destination. There is a promised land, and not only are we promised that we will see the King, we are promised that we will inherit our promised land: “they shall behold the land that is very far off.” Right now, your destiny might feel far off. Right now your inheritance may feel like a fleeting shadow. But God has promised to bring you into all that he has planned and prepared for you.
Let me encourage you at this dawn of a new year, keep going. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep worshipping in the midst of warfare. Keep your heart pure. Keep digging into his word not just for information, but for transformation. And remember the goal:
“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”
Isaiah 33:17
Rev John James 