Revelation 8:13
Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
I sometimes do long bike rides for charity. One of the rides I did long ago was supposed to be a certain number of miles and when that time came, the finish line was nowhere to be found. One mile, two miles, and finally at three miles the finish came into sight. I was in a fair bit of woe waiting for it to be over. This is nothing compared to the dread foretold by the angel in verse 13. The previous four trumpets had heralded destruction of one third of everything in land, water, and sky. John could be excused for thinking that the worst was over. Not so. I wonder if John dreaded what he was about to write.
I wonder how many people live their lives the way I did bike rides and John wrote of these trumpets, with complete dread, knowing that more woes are to come. There is a cure for that dread. It is in the knowledge that they are all ordained by the Lamb that was slain. He saw the woes that were ahead for him and pressed on. He endured to the end. You may have far more than three woes to come and it may seem to destroy more than a third of your world but blessings come for those who dwell in him.
O Heavenly Father, your plan is perfect, even if there are woes in our lives. Help us to endure and press on the way Jesus did on the cross. In Jesus’ name. Amen.