Isaiah 43-45: Do You Not Perceive It?

“Forget the former things;
   do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
   and streams in the wasteland. - Is 43:18-19 NIV

Ever so faintly in this dry and barren desert where we live, we sense a whisper of promise.  There is a refreshing breeze out there somewhere, waiting to make itself known.  We can't see it but we know it is coming.  It will rustle the dry leaves, it will blow over the parched ground, it will bring the refreshing rain that is has been missing for so long.  We will turn our faces towards it like a long lost friend.  We will greet it with outstretched arms and laughter.

Forget the former things, all that has transpired in our lives and in the lives of those throughout the centuries.  Forget all the nations that have risen and fallen since the beginning of time.  God will save, he will draw his creation to him.  The streams will flow, the desert will become a watered garden.  Even now it springs up.  Do you not perceive it?

2010 Post - Isaiah 43-44:  There Is No Other

Isaiah 41-42: Upheld by His Right Hand

 “But you, O Israel, my servant,
   Jacob, whom I have chosen,
   you descendants of Abraham my friend,
I took you from the ends of the earth,
   from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
   I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
   do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
   I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Is. 41:8-10 NIV

This is not how we usually see ourselves:  being upheld by the right hand of God.  Most of the time, we think the whole world is against us, against those who claim the be adopted children of God.  Persecuted, we have been and will continue to be.  In every generation, there are those who have given their lives for their faith, but that doesn't change the fact that we have been chosen by God and have never been rejected. 

No matter the circumstance, we have no reason to fear or be dismayed.  Nothing of true value can be taken away from us.  Nothing can destroy us.  God will uphold us in righteousness.  He will uphold us with his right hand.

2010 Post - Isaiah 41-42:  God Declares a New Thing

Isaiah 39-40: Teach Us To Wait

Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Is 40: 27-31 NIV

Who hasn't felt weary at some point in time? Who hasn't thought that they could go on no longer?  Perhaps we all haven't crouched in a corner, knees so week they could not longer carry us, bent over in pain from crying too many tears.  Perhaps we haven't all knelt and cried for deliverance.  Perhaps we haven't all held the hand of a dying loved one or sat in a hospital waiting room dreading to hear the news we knew was coming.  If we haven't experienced those things yet, it's because we haven't lived long enough.  None of us have lives that are exempt from pain.  None of us have lives of perfect strength.  God sees it all, he knows it all and he never grows weary unlike his creation. 

Even young people get weary, even they stumble and fall; but those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.  Waiting, that's the thing we need to know how to do well. Teach us Lord to wait.

2010 Post - Isaiah 39-40:  The God of All Comfort

Isaiah 36-38: He Has, He Does and He Will

In your love you kept me
   from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
   behind your back.
For the grave cannot praise you,
   death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
   cannot hope for your faithfulness.
The living, the living—they praise you,
   as I am doing today;
fathers tell their children
   about your faithfulness.
The LORD will save me,
   and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
   in the temple of the LORD. - Is 38:17-20 NIV

Some day the grave will be the final answer to all of our questions and supplications.  However, just as it was for Hezekiah, God intervenes in our 'now' as well.  It is not just for the future that God has put all of our sins behind his back.  It is for the here and now.  It is for the here and now that he frees us from our enemies and delivers us from all that would destroy us.  The Lord has saved us.  Not only has he taken our sins and hidden them behind his back, but we often forget how many times he has delivered us from the pit of destruction in this life.  The Lord is saving us in this very instant.  We have no conception of all the forces hovering around us that, at any second, would tear us down if it were not for his hedge around us right now.  The Lord will save us.  He will rescue us in our days to come and he will save us for eternity.  Just like in the fairy tales, we have been captivated by him and we will live happily ever after.  We have every right to sing "all the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord."

Isaiah 36-38:  The Zeal of the Lord

Isaiah 33-35: Lord be Gracious to Us

 O LORD, be gracious to us;
   we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
   our salvation in time of distress. - Is 33:2 NIV

How many of us can truthfully say that we long for the Lord, that he is the one we rely on for our strength above any other, that he is the one we call on in the morning?  Most of us have another view.  We see strength in numbers, whether it is the size of our army or our bank account, if we're truthful, that's what we're relying on.  God's grace, what is that?  Grace is a weak thing, a thing of beauty perhaps, but not of strength.  Grace is not something we run after, not something we seek although it is the thing we need most.  We need God's eye of favor, his love and mercy, more than anything else.  Whether we realize it or not, God's grace is the thing that gives us life, that gives us salvation, that keeps us from falling. It's a free gift, given to all who come to the conclusion that they cannot do it by their own power.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
   steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
   “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
   he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
   he will come to save you.” - Is 35:3-4 NIV

To those that call, God will be gracious, he will be their strength, their salvation.

2010 Post - Isaiah 33-35:  The Redeemed of the Lord

Isaiah 30-32: Peace and Quietness and Confidence

 The fortress will be abandoned,
   the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
   the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
   and the desert becomes a fertile field,
   and the fertile field seems like a forest.
Justice will dwell in the desert
   and righteousness live in the fertile field.
The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
   the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. - Is. 32:14-17 NIV

All of our fortresses, our strong towers, all of the things we trust in will never be enough.  They can never be enough to protect us.  We live with a false assumption if we think that any thing made by man can protect us or sustain us.  That is why, despite living in a world of incredible technology, even those that would consider themselves the most peaceful cannot protect themselves from the havoc of a lone mad gunman.  We cannot save our children.  We cannot save ourselves. 

Until....until some day the Spirit is poured upon us from on high.  Then, even the desert, where criminals and and crazy mad men hide, will be filled with justice.  Then, we will have what we all are hoping for, but cannot find, peace.  Then we will not have to fear or build up our citadels and watchtowers to keep us safe from our enemies.  We will have peace....peace and quietness and confidence forever.

2010 Post  Isaiah 30-32:  What Matters Most

Isaiah 27-29: We Are the Potter's

 Woe to those who go to great depths
   to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
   “Who sees us? Who will know?”
You turn things upside down,
   as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
   “He did not make me”?
Can the pot say of the potter,
   “He knows nothing”?  - Is. 29:15-16 NIV

Woe to all of us.  Woe to those who would call ourselves people of faith and woe to those who do not.  Woe to all of us.  We all think we can hide things from God that he can't see or doesn't see or know, when he knows all.  We've built up layers and layers of technology, information, business, entertainment, and possessions that keep us amused and isolated from each other and from God.  God is a word we use either casually or in vain, but our lives would seldom indicate that his existence is of any importance. 

In truth, we are nothing without him.  We're just a lump of clay that has no form or purpose without the potter.  We cannot make ourselves; there are no self-made men.  Most of us have let ourselves be molded by other things than our creator.  Most of us are not the beautiful useful vessels we could have been in the potters hand.  And we think that God doesn't notice or care when in truth he sees it all.  Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are the potter's creation and possession.  We belong to him.

2010 Post - Isaiah 27-29:  A Sure Foundation -