I found it so interesting and yet not surprising at all how back In chapter 6 it took great calamity for those who weren't following Jesus to repent and call out to him...
“Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”” Revelation 6:15-17 CSB
This is a cycle we see time and time again in the Old Testament, where when the Israelites would be far from God, and there would be trouble of any sort, they would scream out and cry out for the Lord's help.
And yet here we are today and see quite the opposite. I feel as though I’m being tossed back and forth and back and forth and back-and-forth. In chapter 6 many were brought to repentance and here in chapter 9 some of the most unimaginable things happening in the world, and Yet people were not turning to God. It makes me so sad and yet I know I can be stubborn. I can remain in pain and discomfort out of convenience and flat out selfishness. It's idolatry on a whole 'notha level, if you will. I want what I want no matter what. Johns vision takes us to eye opening places of how stubborn and self-reliant we can be.
“The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. But they could cause them very bad pain for five months. Their pain was like the great pain from a scorpion when it hurts someone. But all the people that the fire, the smoke and the sulphur did not kill continued to do bad things. They did not change how they lived. They worshipped things that they had made for themselves. They worshipped demons and idols that they made from gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. Those idols cannot see anything or hear anything. They cannot walk anywhere. But the people continued to worship them. They were not sorry that they murdered other people. They were not sorry that they used magic to hurt people. They continued to have sex with people in wrong ways. They continued to rob other people. They did not want to change the way that they lived.”
Revelation 9:5, 20-21 EASY
I am working hard on step 1 in a recovery program. It is so important to admit and recognize my powerlessness and acknowledge my need for a savior. My bottom may be totally different then another person's. I keep seeing over and over, "It takes what it takes." It is different for each of us.
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