{"id":1863,"date":"2024-11-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/KP2\/?p=1863"},"modified":"2024-11-04T18:02:37","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T18:02:37","slug":"november-21-watch-in-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/november-21-watch-in-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"November 21, watch in hope!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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But as for me, I watch in hope.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Micah 7:7<\/p>\n\n

Recently, while studying some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the advent of the Messiah, I was reminded of an interesting pattern.\u00a0\u00a0A perspective of God\u2019s complete sovereignty that far transcends present moments of waiting seemed to always be the truth to which prophecies held their bearings while awaiting the fulfillment of the promise.\u00a0\u00a0An example of this comes from Micah\u2019s prophecy:<\/p>\n\n

But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior;<\/p>\n\n

my God will hear\u00a0me. Do not gloat over me,\u00a0my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness,\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0will be my light. (Micah 7:7-8)<\/p>\n\n

In the beginning of Micah\u2019s 7th<\/sup>\u00a0chapter, he rightly bemoaned the absence of the godly and the presence of evil.\u00a0\u00a0He faced a dark time (as he prophesied during those tragic years of Israel\u2019s fall to the Assyrian Empire).\u00a0\u00a0But He knew God\u2019s promise of a Messiah would be fulfilled.\u00a0\u00a0And he held tight to God\u2019s sovereignty as he \u201cwatched in hope,\u201d (a phrase that actually describes a watchman on the wall looking beyond his own location).\u00a0\u00a0The expectant watchman always holds to the truth that God is at work well beyond his own situation even though present moments seem doubtful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The promise of the coming Messiah has been perfectly and completely fulfilled once for all in Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0And until His coming, the prophets, like Micah, held to the known fact that God reigns supreme over the nations even through tumultuous times. And in His faithfulness, God would indeed send the Messiah at the right time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Today, the Messiah has come.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus Christ is born. He came, lived, died, and rose again.\u00a0\u00a0He sits at the right hand of the Father awaiting to usher in His second advent upon earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

While we await His second advent, we must take the perspective of those that awaited His first.\u00a0\u00a0Although at times it may be difficult to keep our eyes on the promise of His second coming, we can trust God\u2019s sovereignty made alive in the Gospel witness of Jesus around the world.\u00a0\u00a0The truth which held prophecies to their course while waiting for Christ to come as a babe, is the same truth that holds us until He comes again as reigning King.\u00a0\u00a0The reign of Jesus is sovereign, and He is at work around the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

So, to encourage you concerning the reign of Jesus in the hearts and lives of people all over the world, consider some of the following facts of Jesus Christ proclaimed over the nations (recorded just a decade ago).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n