Revelation 2:8-11

Life for the church in Smyrna was hard. The Roman culture around them had such influence that being a Christian meant no job, and maybe even death. They met in a small rundown shed, with much fear, but great faith. The letter in Revelation 2 must have brought such hope and relief to them all.

God is not silent. He speaks to us through His word. Jesus identifies Himself as the God who speaks. He is relational and always available to us. He speaks through all circumstances and times. Through Him we can be uniquely equipped to deal with uncertainty and vulnerability. We might only be temporary dashes on this earth, but here speaks the one who died and came to life again.

Not only does He speak to us, but He knows us intimately. He walks among us when we meet and He knows what we are going through. He is not watching at a distance but is there along side is experiencing it too. He knows our pressure points and afflictions. No-one else can demand our devotion more than Jesus who knows us inside and out. He even knows our future. We see in this letter that He knew what was coming for these believers and knew that it wasn't pretty. He reminds them of the ultimate cost of what they believed. He didn't do it to dissuade them but to bolster their faith and to encourage them to show their faith and love by going through it all, even maybe dying for it. We can be faithful even to death because He is a God who has promised a great prize to the faithful. You only need to read a small part of your Bible to understand that a promise from God is the most certain thing you can ever know. Jesus promises here that our trials will have an end, and we will grow the church through them.