It was a lot of fun to sit down with the Quinn family and hear from them how God has been at work in their hearts and lives. I could definitely relate the hopes and the struggles that they shared, and it was so helpful to hear about their honest wrestling with what God has been showing them through the scriptures.
Beth: We’ve been studying the book of Revelation together for several months now. I’m curious about whether any of the assumptions that you brought to this book of the Bible have been changed or challenged.
Robbie: The teaching that the last days began when Jesus was on the earth. I hadn’t thought about that much, and it’s been neat to see that the scriptures really bear that out.
Amy: For sure. As a kid, I perceived that revelation was separate from the rest of the Bible, very scary and that I wouldn’t be around when the events of Revelation played out. The last days being now a different way to look at it. The second thing is that every time I had read Revelation in the past, I had completely glazed over the verse in chapter 1 about this message being a blessing. Thinking about how what Jesus spoke through John is meant to be a blessing has helped me take it all in as a gift.
Beth: Maddie, you may not have been exposed to the same assumptions about this part of the Bible that your parents were, but have there been things that have surprised you about this book?
Maddie: It makes me want to look forward to the throne room scene, everyone singing and worshipping. I thought it would be very confusing, and I thought it would be a warning and about the world ending. I had thought that would all happen at one time, but it’s really happening all along in God’s way.
Beth: How has this changed the way you think about restoration in your daily life?
Amy: God’s timing is so different from our timing. It’s freeing to realize that God is not putting worry on me. Growth and restoration are something that He is doing and not something that I have to check off in my own heart.
Maddie: I’m thinking more about how it relates to how you live your life now and not just a warning about the future.
Beth: We’ve talked a lot about orienting our lives around God’s throne and fighting our tendency to get distracted by what is unstable. How have you seen this struggle played out in your own lives?
Robbie: We have been faced with a lot of instability in our culture this past year. There is a general fascination with the political system being upended with a lot of consternation about election results and which party is in control.
Amy: There were times in this past year when it was trendy to focus on what is unstable: politics, your job, covid, everything out from under our feet. There are a lot of voices telling us to focus on the unstable. Honestly, it’s easier to focus on what’s right in front of us in the moment. It’s hard and scary to trust what is stable because it’s out of our control. When I do embrace the truth that it’s not my plan but it’s Jesus in control, I sleep a lot better.
Beth: Maddie, people in my generation get pretty distracted by politics and cultural changes. Do you think people in your generation share those same distractions or are they attracted to different things that are unstable parts of our world?
Maddie: Some of our distractions are the same: control, power, money. I think younger people focus more on status and reputation. Parents focus more on parenting and stability. We all should be praising Jesus but we tend to want to focus on things that make us feel important.
Beth: That rings 100 percent true to me about the obsessions that get the attention of my heart. I’m thankful that we are in this together, reminding each other about what is eternal. Could you share what are you excited and hopeful about when you think about the future of the church?
Robbie: I get excited when I think about the scene in Revelation chapter 4 where the prayers of the saints go into the golden censer and they’re thrown out over the earth to enact God’s will. This is very encouraging for the church to be continually presenting our prayers to God with the promise that they are used for his purpose for the world and all of creation.
Amy: It’s exciting to know that God finishes what he starts. He has started something so beautiful, so why would he not finish it? I’m thinking of the beautiful image of the elders falling down before Jesus, the Lamb, and even though it’s hard to wrap our minds around, God’s people, the church, will all be worshiping together with nobody mad or arguing. It will be a beautiful coming together of God’s people. This gives me hope for the church because everyone is seeing this vision in the scriptures together. Even when the church messes us, Jesus is victorious over that and he will finish his work.
Maddie: I’m excited and hoping that more people will be able to hear God’s message.
Beth: Are there any of God’s promises from scripture that have become more precious and real to you over the past year?
Robbie: God completes what he starts. We see in Revelation, how in the midst of doing that, there are so many ways that sometimes look pretty and sometimes look scary as He makes all things new.
Maddie: God hears us when we pray. That has stood out to me.
Amy: Hearing that we are a part of a four-part story is encouraging after growing up in a two-part story. Thinking about the goodness of creation and how he made others for us to commune with and how restoration is what God is doing and I don’t have to check boxes to make that happen. God is restoring me and he is restoring his people. Also, seeing the blessing of this book and how it is a part of the good news. Even in Jesus’ letters to the churches that have things that are hard to hear, we can receive them in love.
Beth: That reminds me of the part where John takes in God’s word and it is both bitter and sweet. Can you talk about some times when God’s word has been both convicting and encouraging to you?
Amy: It was definitely bitter to think about how I focus on what is unstable. I do that a lot. It was really good to hear.
Robbie: One of the letters to the churches was really encouraging and sweet to me. When Jesus says to the church in Laodicea that he knows their works being neither hot or cold so that Jesus would spit you out. It was neat to hear about how the history and geography of that city would have related to this analogy, but it was hard to hear because I see lukewarmness in my own heart and posture toward the gospel and towards people. When Jesus finishes by saying that He has conquered, this is very encouraging.
Beth: Thank you all so much for sharing your hearts and your dinner table with me. I am so thankful for your friendship and for this chance to celebrate what God is doing.