Do you ever get tired of conflict?
Arguments at home, frustrations at work, tension in our communities, divisions in our nation. Conflict seems to meet us at every turn. After a while we almost grow used to it, because it is so common.
“That’s just the way life is,” we say.
But wouldn’t it be wonderful if conflict didn’t have to be the norm? If the things that wear us down, worry us, or keep us up at night were simply gone?
Many people worry – some are even terrified – about the end of time. But for those in Christ, Scripture invites us to see it differently. In him, the end will be . . . . the moment when we finally witness the end of all conflict.
We can’t count on human institutions to bring this peace. Even God’s own people, Isaiah says, had become like a tree cut down to a stump, lifeless because they had walked away from his covenant. Yet from that stump a shoot would grow. A Root from the line of Jesse. A King from David’s family. Jesus.
His kingdom is unlike anything we know. “The wolf will live with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6). Other wild animals become gentle. A child leads them. No more danger, no more fear, no more conflict.
This is why Jesus, the Root of Jesse, came into our world. By his sacrifice and resurrection, he gives forgiveness and new life. And forgiven, we know our future is secure in a kingdom where peace reigns forever.
Don’t let conflict consume you. It is temporary. In Christ, a resting place awaits, and it will be glorious (Isaiah 11:10)!
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:6,10)