Longing for Resolution

Thursday, December 4, 2025

Today’s Reading: Revelation 21:1-8

Why can’t I just sit down and bang randomly on the piano? Why don’t people enjoy that? Why can’t that be considered music? Well, I suppose someone could consider it music, but it wouldn’t be pleasing to the ear. Why? Consonance and dissonance.

When sounds clash, the human ear does not like it. In music theory, certain notes clash, and others blend. Dissonance is when notes feel incompatible and unstable. No one finds it pleasing or satisfying. Recent research has even shown that long-term exposure to dissonance has a negative impact on the nervous system and on mental health. Consonance is when notes feel compatible, stable, “right.” When music moves from dissonance to consonance, that’s when the chord resolves.

See? We are hardwired to long for resolution. That can be seen in how we relate to music, but it applies in nearly all areas. We like things to be compatible, stable, pleasing. A tidy environment is preferable to a messy one. A peaceful relationship is preferable to a contentious one. A well-working machine is preferable to a clanking one or a broken one. A half-done project will feel unsettling until it’s complete. Even physical sickness is due to an irregularity in the body’s systems. We long for things to be as they should be. 

Stress is what we feel while we live in the dissonance. Stress relief comes with the resolution. The trouble with life, though, is there will always be something unresolved. An old resentment, a broken appliance, a failing organ system, an unpaid bill, or an unfair boss — there will always be something. 

If you’ll indulge me, I want to go back to our physics discussion. I’m not a scientist, but I remember feeling a sense of awe when I first learned about entropy. Basically, entropy is a measure of the principle that, over time, matter and energy tend to move from more ordered to less ordered states. Merriam-Webster helps with this simpler definition: Entropy is the general trend of the universe toward death and disorder. Do you see why I felt awe? What science discovered and called the Second Law of Thermodynamics, God’s people already knew from the implications of Genesis 3. Science is not at odds with theology; science confirms theology. 

In this universe of entropy, we cling to the promises of a covenant-keeping God. Our longing for resolution will be fulfilled in the keeping of God’s promises. 

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13 NIV)

“You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” (Joshua 23:14 NIV)

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19 NIV)

"The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does" (Psalm 145:13 NIV)

All that the Fall has undone God will redo. All the chaos will be put in order. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 21:6). What He has started He will bring to completion (Philippians 1:6). Great is His faithfulness!

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” 

(Revelation 21:5 NIV)

He who is called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11) will bring ultimate resolution. Praise be to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!