How many of us grew up not being allowed to leave the table until we finished our vegetables?
We scrapped the rule altogether at our house because I appreciated that someone suggested it was an unnecessary power play. The whole interaction was less about better nutrition and more about control. And that tracks. Parents raise their voices and lose their cool. Kids dig in their heels. The table becomes more of a standoff than a sit-down. And everyone leaves frustrated because there's nothing like dinner-time rage.
Now, that got me thinking about something deeper. Rage has a way of showing up when our control starts slipping away. Of course, not just at the dinner table.
For a few weeks, I've been reflecting on the question in Psalm 2: Why do the nations rage? It's an ancient question that feels way too current. History is full of it, and history is rhyming again. When we see it, we can diagnose the surface problems as greed, division, or selfish ambition. And we're not wrong.
But underneath it all is something more primal. There's a need to hold on to control. And so the question of Psalm 2 stands as a mirror to what we hear in Revelation 11. John says, "The nations raged."
Of course they did. That’s what the nations do. They build, protect, and preserve their power. When God’s reign stands over and above it all, they resist.
And, if we’re honest, so do we.
We may not lead nations, but we rule smaller kingdoms, so to speak. And when God presses in, we can feel the tension and resistance building up. There's an urge to dig in our heels.
So maybe the question isn’t just why the nations rage. Maybe it’s this: where is that same resistance to God's reign rising in me?
Stay blessed...john
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