To live in this world is to live where Satan is the prince of the air. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood (physical entities), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly (spiritual) realm” (Ephesians 6:12). Not only do evil, spiritual entities wreak havoc in the world, they have a stated mission, “They have come to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). And they are doing a great job!
For the Believer in Christ, we are told we are “More than conquerors in Him,” and that “Stronger is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” But the losses here are real… tangible, even crushing. God knew that this great tension between good and evil would test us and make us cry out for understanding.
This is why He repeatedly reminds us that Satan’s time is short. He has an expiration date and a day of reckoning before a holy God. To those that have lost so much at the hands of evil leaders, the Lord reminds us “To not act out in vengeance, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘vengeance is Mine’ says the Lord, “I will REPAY.” (Romans 12:19)
To those that have been disciplined by God for their sin, He promises that once they return to Him in repentance that, “He will RESTORE the years the locust has eaten.” (Joel 2:25)
To those that have been stolen from, whether by death, by disintegrating health, by loss of finances or relationships, we can trust God to return to us all that sin and the curse has stolen. We must look past death to the resurrection when Jesus will “RETURN in the clouds ‘with them’ (our saved loved ones), to meet us in the air;” and where, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed - greeted with the gift of a new body, “as like unto His glorious body,” where illness and age are no more. Relationships once strained, bringing heartache, are now perfected and “In His presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11), (1 Thessalonians 4:17), (1 Corinthians 15:52).
Stay strong in the knowledge of God’s goodness, dear ones. Full restoration is coming.
(Devotional by Cheryl Hall-Laos)
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