Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Isaiah 46

There are times in life when we are hit with unexpected and unpleasant events and circumstances. Isaiah 46 is a wonderful passage to read when we are facing a crisis or an uncertain future.  In this chapter in Isaiah God is talking to His special Old Testament people, the Israelites.  We can apply these same words to our own lives as His children today.  This chapter in Isaiah tells us that God is the only true God.  The chapter also demonstrates the foolishness of relying on anything or anyone but the Lord in facing life's challenges.

Babylon was Israels's enemy in Old Testament times.  Isaiah told Israel at the time of the writing of this book that some day Babylon's false deities were going to be carried off into captivity. These false deities would fall and fail.  Not so the Lord!  In Isaiah 46:3 the Lord told Israel that He had carried Israel since her birth.  He has also carried us, His children today, since our birth!  Our Lord will never fail us!

The Lord said to Israel and the Lord says to us today, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (John 46:4)  The writer of  this devotional is old enough to have a few gray hairs. Looking back on her life she can see that the Lord has indeed always sustained her and carried her through both difficult and pleasant times.  He has always rescued her in times of crisis.  When one is a bit older one begins to gain some perspective on the Lord's faithfulness.  One has seen His faithfulness in the past.  Hence, it is a bit easier to begin to have greater trust in His faithfulness in the future.

In verse five of Isaiah 46 the Lord goes on to say, "To whom will you compare Me or count Me equal?  To whom will you liken Me that we may be compared?"  These are rhetorical questions on the Lord's part.  There is no God, but our true God.  No one or no other resource can be compared to to Him in terms of His power, glory, sovereignty, mercy, or love.  If we trust in anyone or any resource in this life other the Lord for our ultimate protection and well-being, we are sinning.  We are then making that person or resource our idol.  The Lord God alone must be our first love and passion. He alone must be the One to whom we turn for protection and help.  He alone is our help, our salvation, and our hope in this life and for eternity.

Read verses eight through eleven of Isaiah 46, and let the words flow through your spirit.  Revel and find joy in their words of comfort to you.  The Lord says to you, "Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart---I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please---What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do."

Our sovereign God is in control of the seeming uncertainties in this world.  He is in sovereign control of our lives as His children.  He is watching over us and protecting us in His goodness. He has every detail of our lives in His sovereign will and plan.  He knows our beginning from our end on this earth and has an eternal future for us with Him.  His purpose for us will stand.  When we truly believe and begin to comprehend the glory of that concept there is no room for fear, worry, or panic even in times of crisis!

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