The Book of Revelation | The Voice Behind the Vision

⁹ I, John, your brother who share with you the persecution and the kingdom and the endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet ¹¹ saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Revelation 1:9-11 (NRSVUE)

John begins his account not by identifying himself as an apostle or a church leader, but as "your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus." This wasn't false humility—it was pastoral wisdom.

John was writing to people who were suffering. They were facing economic hardship, social ostracism, and in some cases, physical persecution for their faith. They didn't need to hear from someone who lived in an ivory tower; they needed to hear from someone who understood their struggles.

That's exactly what they got. John was on Patmos not because he chose an island vacation, but because he had been exiled for his witness about Jesus. He wasn't writing from a position of comfort and security—he was writing from the margins, from a place of forced isolation.

But here's what's remarkable: it's from this place of exile that John receives the revelation. God doesn't wait until John is back in a comfortable church building or surrounded by supportive friends. God meets John in his lowest moment and gives him a message of hope.

This tells us something important about how God works. He doesn't promise to shield us from hardship, but he does promise to meet us in it. The same God who spoke to John on a rocky island in the Aegean Sea is the same God who wants to speak to you in whatever difficult circumstance you're facing.

John's credibility didn't come from his credentials—it came from his willingness to suffer for the message he proclaimed. When he tells us not to be afraid, we can trust him because he knows what it means to be afraid.

Prayer: Thank you, God, that you don't wait for perfect circumstances to speak to me. Help me to recognize your voice even in the midst of my struggles.