Revelation 13
Persevere in Your Faith!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 16.
Have you ever felt like you “lost sight of the forest for the trees”?
I remember flying in a military helicopter over the mountains of Dahlonega, Georgia during the second phase of the US Army Ranger School. As a 1997 graduate of this prestigious training, I spent a lot of time out in those mountains, but they were never so beautiful as when up in the helicopter flying over them instead of trudging through them. I was so exhausted by my circumstances and so focused on the task at hand that I could not see the beauty that surrounded me—I lost sight of the forest for the trees!
I am returning to the Dahlonega area in 2021, 24 years later, to hike the section of the Appalachian Trail that starts at Springer Mountain and meanders through those same ridge lines around Dahlonega. Though the terrain will not have changed, I guarantee my perspective will be different! I’m excited to see to the Forest!
Revelation 13 is an overwhelming chapter, describing the two beasts, the anti-Christ and his prophet, but verse 10 gives us an important perspective: “Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”
But for this one small clause in the middle verse of this daunting chapter. John is saying to us, the readers of Revelation, “don’t lose the forest for the trees.” Perspective changes everything—God has a bigger plan than what we can see so don’t let the details of today or the fears of tomorrow distract you from your faith.
Seize the moment and persevere in your faith! Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees!
Let’s recite this week’s memory verse from Ephesians 4:1, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”