A present darkness lies on this age. Daniel received a brief glimpse of this battle when an angelic messenger arrived and told him of a delay in his coming.
"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia." (Dan 10:13)
We feel the need for a memoir of this great battle; a blow-by-blow account with color commentary, perhaps a bit of in-depth analysis to help us retell the story of the victory. But in the following verse, the messenger starts in on making Daniel understand the vision. Wait, is that all we get, just that brief glimpse of battle?
I get the impression that this messenger lived by what Jesus told us: "We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us." (John 9:4 NLT) The battle was past; the mission was now, and God's assignment would not wait. Yet, the understanding begins with telling Daniel how it was all about the latter days and that many days must pass first. Later, Daniel will even be told to go his way for all this wasn't going to happen in his lifetime. So, why the rush?
Of course, we know that God's time and timing is never about a rush in the offices of the Holy Trinity. We must quickly be about God's work because it is God's work. The past is done, we are about the present moment and the tasks Christ has given us for the building of His kingdom. The message will not wait because it is of God and we respect our Lord too much to delay in the delivery. When we are delayed by the actions of the enemy, good help is sent. Like Daniel's messenger, we too may find that we have been left alone with the enemy's kings; a marshmallow surrounded by crushing stones, a cheese puff besieged by sledgehammers. God loves His little puffballs well, and delayed or not, His mighty help is on the way!
God's grace and blessings to you on this day,
Bucky
No comments:
Post a Comment