A few years ago, I had a medical issue and went to the urgent care. In response to the pain I was experiencing, a compassionate nurse acted very concerned by my symptoms and administered several pain medications before the doctor even assessed what was wrong with me. The doctor, on the other hand, appeared a little too aloof for my liking. Why wasn’t she doing anything? She was the only doctor on duty, so I waited hours for answers. She ran tests, consulted other doctors on the phone, and told me very little in the process.
When she did inform me what she thought was going on, in the early hours of the morning after I had spent the night in the urgent care, she discharged me with a prescription for pain management and an appointment with a specialist. However, the appointment would not be for another day, and I fumed that they were sending me home when I was in so much pain and had still so little answers. Why weren’t they sending me to the hospital or giving me more immediate relief?
I checked myself into the hospital the next night, but the ER doctor told me that the best solution for me would be to see the specialist the doctor had recommended. And when I went to go see the specialist, he gave me a diagnosis within a few minutes. As it turns out, the nurse who looked so compassionate had administered drugs to me that were useless in helping the problem I had — and even made the situation worse as two of the remedies she gave me even exacerbated the problem. While the nurse initially looked more competent because she actually “did something” from my vantage point, I discovered that the doctor who was careful to run tests and consult with other doctors before taking action steps actually pointed me to the solution I needed.
Can We Trust What God Tells Us in Our Situation?
Similar to my experience at the urgent care, we might be walking through a situation in our lives where we want God to act, but He seems to be slow in responding. We wonder if He knows what is going on or why He allows what He does in our lives. Or, perhaps after praying about a situation, God may give us an answer we don’t expect or don’t believe will actually help our situation. Maybe we assumed that another person needs to change to remedy a relationship, and Jesus tells us to change and not worry about the other person. Maybe we are hoping for an exit in a difficult job or position in ministry, and God tells us that we are needed where we are. Maybe we envision the steps to a particular goal unfolding in a certain way, and God points us another way that doesn’t seem to make any sense.
The church of Laodicea certainly did not expect the diagnosis that Jesus gave them in His message to them recorded in Revelation 3:14-22. They believed that they were rich and in need of nothing, whereas Jesus assessed that they were spiritually poor and blind, in need of “gold refined in the fire, white clothes to wear, and eye salve so they could see” (Revelation 3:17, 18). To break through their complacency and self-reliance, Jesus counsels them to buy from Him.
We don’t know how the church reacted to Jesus’ words, but we can imagine that some probably didn’t like the message or had a hard time believing what Jesus said. However, for those who may have been tempted to discount or ignore His message, Jesus offers a few morsels of information that could reassure the doubters in the crowd –- and can reassure us. Revelation 3:14, 20 says: “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation … Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
What can we learn?
1. We can always trust what Jesus tells us because Jesus is truth.
While we may not think of Jesus in this way, Jesus is the ultimate physician and can give us an accurate diagnosis for any problem we face. His prognosis is always true. Note, the beginning of the passage identifies Jesus as the “Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” Similarly, if we look at the beginning of the other seven messages given to the churches in Revelation, we will find similar descriptions of Jesus. Why are these descriptions there?
We might easily skip past these introductions, but each describes key attributes of Jesus and prepares us for the message that follows by establishing His authority to make an assessment of each church. Here, we see in the message to Laodicea several words to describe Jesus that let us know that the church and believers reading His message can trust what He says:
The “Amen.” Jesus is identified as the “Amen.” “Amen” can mean “so be it,” indicating that we agree with a statement or want something to come to pass. We commonly use the word at the end of prayer in this way. However, the word also means “certain” and “true.” In Isaiah 65:16, God is identified as “the God of truth” or some translations read “the God of the Amen.”
By calling Himself the Amen, Jesus may be identifying with that statement in the Old Testament, but He is not only the God of the Amen, as part of the Trinity, but also, the amen to God’s promises. He fulfilled God’s promises to mankind of a Messiah. By looking at Jesus, we can see the faithfulness of the God we serve becomes He comes through on what He says He will do. As theologian Albert Barnes notes about Jesus, “What he affirms is true; what he promises or threatens is certain. Himself characterized by sincerity and truth.”
“Faithful and true witness.” More description follows after Jesus identifies Himself as the Amen. He then calls himself the “faithful and true witness.” This, essentially, further establishes His reliability. A good witness is one who has firsthand experience of an event and testifies truthfully. Jesus is the “faithful and true witness” because He knows the Father’s will and purposes and communicates the Father’s will faithfully to us. As J. Culross in The Biblical Illustrator writes, Jesus can be relied on to the last “jot and tittle.” Jesus faithfully reports to us what He hears and sees — and never lies or distorts facts.
“Ruler of creation.” Lastly, Jesus uses the title of “ruler of creation.” He isn’t a mere created being throwing around opinions on our actions. All things exist through and for Him. We were created by Him for His glory. Romans 11:36 says: “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” Similarly, Colossians 1:16 says, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
Does Jesus have a little weight behind His words? Absolutely! One commentator I read made the point that while the Laodiceans were busy worshipping the things of creation (i.e. themselves and what their hands had made), Jesus reminded them to worship the One who made all things.
Clearly, as all of these titles indicate, Jesus is trustworthy! We can trust what He tells us. Jesus always knows what is going on in our lives and gives us a prescription that is reliable and will truly heal the problem in our lives. Although we need medical professionals, and God many times works through medical professionals, we will face problems that earthly doctors cannot cure. Unlike the medications administered to me by a nurse that had the best of intentions but limited knowledge of the problem I was facing, Jesus always knows what the problem is and the best remedy for it.
2. Sometimes Jesus’ prescriptions won’t make sense to us.
Though Jesus is trustworthy, His prescriptions won’t always make sense to us because He knows things we don’t know and sees things we can’t. In the passage, Jesus stands outside the door and knocks, saying, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock!” The human heart often in its pride wants its own way and does not want to rely on the advice and promptings of Jesus. We simply won’t like or understand, at times, the way Jesus points. Yet, in order to experience breakthrough and healing, we have to open the door to Jesus and allow Him in. We have to trust His ways over our own and make room for Him in our heart.
When He tells us what we don’t want to hear or points us down a path we would never willingly walk down, we have a choice as to whether or not we will go the way He is leading or shut the door of our hearts to His promptings. Of course, we must be sure that what we are hearing lines us with Scripture and we’re not merely stepping out recklessly on impulse — but we allow Him in even when we would rather lean on our own counsel and do things our own way.
Because God Can Be Trusted, We Can Do What He Says
In 2 Kings 5, Naaman, a commander of an army, has leprosy and is advised by a messenger of the prophet Elisha to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. When Naaman hears the solution to his illness, he is angry. He thought that Elisha would come out and call on the name of his God and wave his hand over him. His servants calm him down and tell him, “My father, if the prophet had told you do some great thing, would you not have done it?” (2 Kings 5:13).
In other words, his servants tell him that even if the prescription wasn’t what he wanted, why not just try it? Naaman relents and washes himself in the Jordan and his skin is restored. The prescription isn’t what he thought it would be, but when he obeys the prophet, he receives the healing that he wanted.
We might be seeking an answer from God for a problem in our life, yet we might not always like what He tells us. We might wonder, “Is this really the solution to my problem at the moment?” We might have hoped for Jesus to give us a different answer.
However, as Naaman and Jesus’ address to the church of Laodicea remind us, God can be trusted. And because He can be trusted, we can do what He says. Of course, we must make sure we are hearing from Him. Stepping out before we clearly know the direction we should in take in a situation can be disastrous to us or others.
If we have no idea what to do in a situation and don’t have a clear sense of direction we should keep praying and wait to hear from God. If we think we have an answer, but still aren’t sure, we should pray for confirmation before we step out. However, when we know He is speaking, we can act confidently walking in His will knowing that what He says can be trusted.
Related Resources:
Are you tired of fighting a battle that doesn’t seem to quit and feel tempted to let up on your vigilance when it comes to keeping the faith? Join us for a brand new series “Holding Fast to Our Faith in Troubled Times.” The series draws lessons from Jesus’ messages to churches in Revelation 3 and will encourage you in those places where you feel despair and a lack of hope; help to revitalize the vitality in your relationship with God; and reveal steps, if needed, to help get you on the right track again.
Check out Part 1: “Stopping the Drift Into Spiritual Apathy,” Part 2: “Heeding God’s Warnings in Our Spiritual Life,” Part 3: “The Work That Pleases God,” Part 4: “Maintaining a Firm Faith in Difficult Circumstances,” and Part 5: “What It Means to Live a Transformed Life” to get a better understanding of what spiritual apathy is and how to guard against the drift in your life.
Want to learn about salvation? Read more about what it means to put your faith and trust in Christ on our Know God page.
Working through a decision and not sure which direction to turn? Check out the following devotional on hearing from God.
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