“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours…
For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.”
Psalm 86:8, 10
In our church service yesterday, we sang “God of This City.” It’s a song I’m very familiar with, but hadn’t sung in awhile…perhaps that’s why it struck me so deeply. Its words were some I needed to hear, to stir faith and hope for this time in which we live. I’ll write them here before expanding on what God began speaking to my heart through this song:
“You’re the God of this city.
You’re the King of these people.
You’re the Lord of this nation;
You are.
You’re the light in this darkness.
You’re the hope to the hopeless.
You’re the peace to the restless;
You are.
There is no one like our God…
For greater things have yet to come
and greater things are still to be done in this city…
Greater things have yet to come
and greater things are still to be done here.”
As far gone as things might seem, as much as past generations might appear better to our eyes or more promising for seasons of revival, greater things can still be done here. In our churches. In our cities. In our nation. In our world. In the people around us. In us.
May the Lord open our eyes to His greatness and power. To His activity here. May He lead each of us in the way He would use us in His great work in this generation, and oh, may we not turn our backs in rebellion or disbelief. There are purposes for us here, in this time. He would not have placed us where we are and when we are without specific intentionality and perfect design.
May cynicism never be allowed to shadow our thoughts, for our God is great and He does wondrous things. He is able to bring greater things about than we can ask or imagine, greater in detail and scope than we would ever fathom. And He allows us to be a part of it as His Spirit works within us.
Our God is light and hope and peace for this generation. And that light is to shine through us as His people and His ambassadors to those whom He places in our path.
Light shining through our faith that our God is still active.
That He is preparing great works yet to be revealed in these days and those to come.
He is still mighty to save.
He is still sovereign.
He still raises up kings and kingdoms, governments and nations, as He wills.
He still draws people to Himself and turns hearts of stone into flesh.
He still holds His people firmly in His grasp so that none can snatch them from His hand and nothing can separate them from His love.
So let us hold fast to Him today. Hold fast to His Word, that from it we may bear fruit a hundredfold through our perseverance and determined pursuit of Christ and His purposes.
Light is before us. Because the great God of heaven is sowing light and joy into our paths as we walk with Him and join Him in this great work. May this fill us with hope for the future that we will see this light and joy flourish along our way, contributing to the greater story the Lord is writing in our generation.
“Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Isaiah 42:9
“Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.”
Habakkuk 1:5
In Pleasant Places 