The other day it happened again, and again the Lord came through for me and reminded me of Isaiah 8:11-14a. I’ve quoted it before, “The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ‘Don’t call everything a conspiracy like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe. ‘”
The next day, while walking around the future Ebenezer Productions, I talked to Him about the future. I told Him that I knew it would happen in His time and His way, but that I really struggled with how it coincides to the dark times that are before us, leading us to the end.
It was then that He reminded me of Jonah and how the people of Nineveh repented. I know you remember the story. The people believed God’s message given by Jonah and repented of their evil lifestyle. As it turned out, that revival staved off their total destruction for about 150 years.
God is merciful and will do all he can to keep from destroying a nation. We see that time and again with the Israelites, as well as with the Ninevites. In Jonah 4:10-11 we see what God has been telling us from Genesis to Revelation, and beyond:
“Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”
It’s what he told Ezekiel in 33: 11
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Sovereign Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?’”
And it’s what He showed us when Jesus came to earth as a baby, lived a perfect life of a man so that He could take all our evil on Himself and pay the penalty for it. No pain was spared Him. Every pound of the hammering of nails in His hands and feet bore the same pain as the two on either side felt. The amazing thing is that after He died, He came back to life for us to know the penalty was paid.
And that’s the God I’m believing for Ebenezer Productions, but it’s more than that. In the final analysis, all the temporary things of this world, including buildings and movies will be no more. All that will be left are the things of value, and the thing that is of most value is what we did with Jesus in our individual lives.
As I walk this life believing in the astronomically impossibilities of my vision, I am drawing closer to the life of faith that Hebrews 11:1 describes. “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” I’m not there yet, but I’m growing closer every day.