Emily Lyons

Dear friends,

This past Sunday afternoon, I put on my raincoat and took a long walk in the rain. A mile or so later, the gentle drizzle became a downpour. By the time I made it home, my neighborhood streets had become rivers. My jeans were soaked through, my boots’ waterproofing tested to the limit. I was drenched, and cold. It was glorious. Thanks be to God!

When change, like this weekend’s rain, brings such longed-for relief, it is easy to give thanks and praise to God. At the same time, I know that a small shift in circumstances—no jacket, no boots—would alter my perspective, making me curse rather than bless the rain.

In Psalm 61 the psalmist prays, “set me upon the rock that is higher than I.” In light of today’s verses from Ecclesiasticus, I read this request for protection instead as request for perspective—the kind needed to face yet another day of scorching heat and relentless sun, while still proclaiming “Great is the Lord who made it.”

On the subject of changes, today is election day. Depending on the outcome, will we wake up tomorrow eager to thank and praise the Lord?

Revelation 14:14-20 records John’s vision of Christ in glory, reaping the earth and pressing the harvest in the wine press. Whether or not they are aware of the allusion, every American school child is familiar with this vision:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored

As a child, I understood the subject of Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic,”  even if I couldn’t fully grasp the brutality of slavery, or the horrifying carnage of the Civil War. I’ll never understand these things in the visceral way that Howe must have, in 1862, when she wrote these words. I can’t imagine the fear she must have felt about the future of the country, or the faith she must have had in spite of it, to boldly assert that God’s truth marches on.

Many of us are afraid about the future right now—and afraid of each other, divided by fear that threatens to consume us, forgetting that the world has been consumed by fear and hatred again and again throughout history. In this season of change, I pray God will grant me perspective to see beyond the fears of this moment to his vast, enduring greatness.

Yours in Christ,

—Emily