Revelation 7:9-17 (NRSV)
Read Revelation 7:9-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 9After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. Verse 10They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Verse 11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, Verse 12singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
Verse 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" Verse 14I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Verse 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. Verse 16They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; Verse 17for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Devotion
To live this life is to be in the midst of struggle. It is to know hunger and thirst and pain. It is to endure the repercussions of our actions and to make difficult decisions without clarity. It is to search for hope and promise of redemption and, even if it is unseen, to trust that God is still at work. Struggle indeed.
But like so many sinner-saints who have gone before us, this is our hope: that as we pass through the "great ordeal" that is this life, we are held and sustained by God. We are and will be washed and made clean in Christ. We are and will be sheltered by this God. We are and will be gathered around God's throne where we will continue to praise with unending gratitude for the ways God has brought us through.
Prayer
Somewhere in this chaos, your Spirit moves, O God. Keep this vision of peace, wholeness and rejoicing before me, that I may have hope for myself and my dear loved ones. Amen.