Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
I occasionally become frustrated with the book of Isaiah. Like the other Major Prophets, this book is not easily understood and the narrative thread that holds it together is not always in chronological order. Yet, just when I think I have gleaned all from the book that my weak mind can possibly untangle something new, fresh, and precious jumps from the page.
I had memorized and often drawn comfort from Isaiah 30:21, but never before wondered why the voice of God came from behind His people rather than going on before them. Guides are general up ahead forging the way, not lingering behind. When God guided Moses and roughly three million Israelites through the desert into the Promised Land, He went before them as a cloud by day and a column of fire by night. [1] Jesus said that when He put forth His sheep He would go before them. [2] Yet, here the voice of God comes from behind.
The answer to that riddle starts way back at the beginning of the chapter.
For much of his book of Isaiah is shouting out to the people telling them the exact nature of their sin. This chapter begins the same. The people are rebellious. The people are headstrong. They are sure they have a plan figured out that will keep them safe, but Isaiah shouts a warning of failure.
In verse fifteen, the tone changes and rather than scolding, the prophet relays the tender, pleading voice of God. “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; / In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’” There was a way out. There was safety. But, it was not in the direction that the people were heading. Their safety would be in waiting yet they chose instead to scheme, plan and fight the enemy head on.
What is God’s reaction to this? Isaiah tells us: “Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you.” [3] Because the people refused to wait on God, the Holy Creator of the Universe would wait instead for them. There will come a day when they would cry out in their trouble, and what will happen then? “He will be very gracious at the sound of your cry; / When He hears it, He will answer you.” [4] But, because the people had raced ahead with their own plans, when He spoke, they would hear the guiding voice behind them.
No wonder Isaiah calls God’s actions, “very gracious’ [4]. How much more mercy and grace could He show than to both lead the way before us and when we race ahead of His leading, call us from behind? That’s double grace. The kind of grace I often need.
[1] Exodus 13:22
[2] John 4:10
[3] Isaiah 30:18
[4] Isaiah 30:19
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Waiting, Just Like Me
I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Luke 12:50
Have you ever thought of Jesus as being forced to wait? The notion may seem strange, but this verse is a quote from His own lips. Our Lord was clearly struggling and longing for some future event to be finished. And, as He waits He is “distressed” about the situation.
This shouldn’t surprise us because Jesus came to earth to live as we live and feel what we feel. He was God, but also fully human and as a human He was forced to wait.
It is commonly thought that Jesus was crucified and resurrected at age thirty-three, but did you ever wonder how scholars know that? The Bible only mentions His age once and that was at twelve years. The next time we see Him, He is an adult launching a preaching career with no mention of how many years stretched between those two events. To find that out, we turn to Jewish tradition and history.
Jesus taught as a rabbi [1] and by Jewish law He could not take that position until past His thirtieth birthday. Assuming He started preaching then and counting the yearly feast recorded until His death, the result is thirty-three years.
Between age twelve and thirty the Bible is silent. We assume Joseph died for he is never mentioned again in scripture although Mary is. If so, that meant Jesus, as firstborn son, would have become responsible for supporting a large family at a very young age. If at twelve He felt the urgency to be about God’s business [2], what must it have been like to wait eighteen more years before He could officially take steps that direction?
By the time Luke 12:50 is recorded, Jesus has been ministering slightly less than three years and the “baptism” He refers to is a metaphor for His fast approaching crucifixion. Step by step Jesus has followed the path His Father laid before Him, but now He can see the end of the journey and is distressed as He waits for the trial to be past.
In the Greek, our Lord described His feelings as “sunecho.” That means to be pressed down, constrained, kept in or compelled. While Jesus waited the emotions He faced were very similar to what we might feel and this is why the writer of Hebrews could say, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. [3]
Are you being forced to wait today? Do you feel the days crawling by one at a time and wonder if you have been forgotten by God? Lift up your head! God is not asleep. Jesus knows exactly what you feel and how hard it is. After all, He waited, too.
[1] John 20:16
[2] Luke 2:49
[3] Hebrews 4:15
Have you ever thought of Jesus as being forced to wait? The notion may seem strange, but this verse is a quote from His own lips. Our Lord was clearly struggling and longing for some future event to be finished. And, as He waits He is “distressed” about the situation.
This shouldn’t surprise us because Jesus came to earth to live as we live and feel what we feel. He was God, but also fully human and as a human He was forced to wait.
It is commonly thought that Jesus was crucified and resurrected at age thirty-three, but did you ever wonder how scholars know that? The Bible only mentions His age once and that was at twelve years. The next time we see Him, He is an adult launching a preaching career with no mention of how many years stretched between those two events. To find that out, we turn to Jewish tradition and history.
Jesus taught as a rabbi [1] and by Jewish law He could not take that position until past His thirtieth birthday. Assuming He started preaching then and counting the yearly feast recorded until His death, the result is thirty-three years.
Between age twelve and thirty the Bible is silent. We assume Joseph died for he is never mentioned again in scripture although Mary is. If so, that meant Jesus, as firstborn son, would have become responsible for supporting a large family at a very young age. If at twelve He felt the urgency to be about God’s business [2], what must it have been like to wait eighteen more years before He could officially take steps that direction?
By the time Luke 12:50 is recorded, Jesus has been ministering slightly less than three years and the “baptism” He refers to is a metaphor for His fast approaching crucifixion. Step by step Jesus has followed the path His Father laid before Him, but now He can see the end of the journey and is distressed as He waits for the trial to be past.
In the Greek, our Lord described His feelings as “sunecho.” That means to be pressed down, constrained, kept in or compelled. While Jesus waited the emotions He faced were very similar to what we might feel and this is why the writer of Hebrews could say, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. [3]
Are you being forced to wait today? Do you feel the days crawling by one at a time and wonder if you have been forgotten by God? Lift up your head! God is not asleep. Jesus knows exactly what you feel and how hard it is. After all, He waited, too.
[1] John 20:16
[2] Luke 2:49
[3] Hebrews 4:15
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Protecting Your Blind Side
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, / So the LORD surrounds His people / From this time forth and forever. Psalm 125:2
Jerusalem was located on top of a mountain and the temple of God was even higher located on the pinnacle within the city walls. It was an uphill journey and pilgrims seeking the presence of the Lord were likely to find the last steps, the hardest.
Perhaps that is why David wrote several songs specifically designed to be sung on the uphill hike. Psalm 125 is one of these Songs of Ascent intended to strengthen pilgrims and reassure them of God’s protection. Families sang together and traveling strangers sang to each other as verse by verse the music encouraged them to keep putting one foot in front of another and not be afraid.
A Song of Ascent was desperately needed when I was a forty-five year old college junior struggling to make financial ends meet while raising a family as a single mom and hoping I could finish my degree before funds ran dry. Fear and insecurity constantly plagued me making a difficult journey almost impossible.
I had begun the program at Liberty University hoping to do all the work from home but soon found that would not be possible. On campus time was required even though they segmented it into concentrated stays of two week duration. I would have to physically go to Virginia. So, leaving two teenagers to fend for themselves, I prepared as best I could and boarded a plane.
The campus was located in a valley completely surrounded by mountain peaks. I had never having been east of the Mississippi river and the new landscape was fascinating. As I looked around I saw land that was higher than where I stood in every direction.
I left the dorm that first morning with a heavy briefcase and a light sweater—wrong combination for winter in the mountains. It was almost a fourth of a mile to the lecture hall and I was feeling very miserable. Then, I looked up and things changed. I wasn’t any warmer but I did become braver.
Several weeks earlier, I had been listening to the radio and heard Psalm 125:2 set to music. The little chorus was easily memorized and as I looked at the mountains it came back to me. “As the mountains are around Jerusalem, the Lord is all around His people.” If that scripture were true—and it was—I had no need to fear, and a little cold air was certainly not the worst thing in the world. If the Lord was all around believers, then He was around me. ALL around. As He looked down, nothing could surprise or take Him unaware. I may not have been warm, but I was safe.
Do you feel you’re on an uphill journey? Do you wonder about surprises and protecting your blind side? Rejoice! Jesus is all around and nothing surprises Him.
Jerusalem was located on top of a mountain and the temple of God was even higher located on the pinnacle within the city walls. It was an uphill journey and pilgrims seeking the presence of the Lord were likely to find the last steps, the hardest.
Perhaps that is why David wrote several songs specifically designed to be sung on the uphill hike. Psalm 125 is one of these Songs of Ascent intended to strengthen pilgrims and reassure them of God’s protection. Families sang together and traveling strangers sang to each other as verse by verse the music encouraged them to keep putting one foot in front of another and not be afraid.
A Song of Ascent was desperately needed when I was a forty-five year old college junior struggling to make financial ends meet while raising a family as a single mom and hoping I could finish my degree before funds ran dry. Fear and insecurity constantly plagued me making a difficult journey almost impossible.
I had begun the program at Liberty University hoping to do all the work from home but soon found that would not be possible. On campus time was required even though they segmented it into concentrated stays of two week duration. I would have to physically go to Virginia. So, leaving two teenagers to fend for themselves, I prepared as best I could and boarded a plane.
The campus was located in a valley completely surrounded by mountain peaks. I had never having been east of the Mississippi river and the new landscape was fascinating. As I looked around I saw land that was higher than where I stood in every direction.
I left the dorm that first morning with a heavy briefcase and a light sweater—wrong combination for winter in the mountains. It was almost a fourth of a mile to the lecture hall and I was feeling very miserable. Then, I looked up and things changed. I wasn’t any warmer but I did become braver.
Several weeks earlier, I had been listening to the radio and heard Psalm 125:2 set to music. The little chorus was easily memorized and as I looked at the mountains it came back to me. “As the mountains are around Jerusalem, the Lord is all around His people.” If that scripture were true—and it was—I had no need to fear, and a little cold air was certainly not the worst thing in the world. If the Lord was all around believers, then He was around me. ALL around. As He looked down, nothing could surprise or take Him unaware. I may not have been warm, but I was safe.
Do you feel you’re on an uphill journey? Do you wonder about surprises and protecting your blind side? Rejoice! Jesus is all around and nothing surprises Him.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
What If I Don't Like God's Answer?
Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First, seek the counsel of the LORD.”
I Kings 22:3
It is good to seek the Lord’s counsel, but what happens once He speaks and we don’t like what He says?
Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were about to embark on a risky venture. Syria had taken Ramoth from Israel. It was only fair that Ahab should take it back and if Jehoshaphat would join forces with him victory was assured. The plan sounded good.
Ahab paraded his prophets before the king of Judah. With a unified voice they said, “Go to it. You are bound to win!” That was exactly what Ahab wanted to hear. But Jehoshaphat rightly suspected that the prophets were only saying that because Ahab paid their wedges so he requested a real prophet of God be called. Micaiah wasn’t on Ahab’s payroll and he spoke the truth predicting failure and death.
This was advice no one really wanted to hear. Not even Jehoshaphat. He had asked that the prophet be called, but now that he knew what God had to say the future didn’t look nearly as bright as it had moments before. There was money to be made on his deal with Ahab and the war plans looked solid enough on the surface. In the end, Jehoshaphat brushed aside the words of the prophet choosing instead to follow his personal desires and his friends.
The kings went to battle and as Micaiah had predicted Ahab was killed and it took direct intervention from God to get Jehoshaphat back home beaten and humiliated but safe.
I would like to think I am not like Jehoshaphat. But I know better. There have been times when I asked the will of the Lord then either disobeyed or argued because I didn’t like His answer. Perhaps you remember those times, too. Have you ever looked back and moaned, “Why didn’t I obey? Why couldn’t I see how badly this would turn out? Or, lamented, ‘How different my life would have been if I had listened to His voice!”
We can’t turn back the clock or erase decisions we wish we had not made. But, there is one thing we can do: We can resolve to follow His voice today. We have no guarantees for tomorrow but we can confess yesterday’s failures, accept that He has put them as far from us as the East is from the West, then turn our faces toward tomorrow with renewed hope knowing that whatever He commands, He also provides power to perform. Our only responsibility is to obey when we know His voice. Even when the voice is contrary to our desires and plans.
I Kings 22:3
It is good to seek the Lord’s counsel, but what happens once He speaks and we don’t like what He says?
Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were about to embark on a risky venture. Syria had taken Ramoth from Israel. It was only fair that Ahab should take it back and if Jehoshaphat would join forces with him victory was assured. The plan sounded good.
Ahab paraded his prophets before the king of Judah. With a unified voice they said, “Go to it. You are bound to win!” That was exactly what Ahab wanted to hear. But Jehoshaphat rightly suspected that the prophets were only saying that because Ahab paid their wedges so he requested a real prophet of God be called. Micaiah wasn’t on Ahab’s payroll and he spoke the truth predicting failure and death.
This was advice no one really wanted to hear. Not even Jehoshaphat. He had asked that the prophet be called, but now that he knew what God had to say the future didn’t look nearly as bright as it had moments before. There was money to be made on his deal with Ahab and the war plans looked solid enough on the surface. In the end, Jehoshaphat brushed aside the words of the prophet choosing instead to follow his personal desires and his friends.
The kings went to battle and as Micaiah had predicted Ahab was killed and it took direct intervention from God to get Jehoshaphat back home beaten and humiliated but safe.
I would like to think I am not like Jehoshaphat. But I know better. There have been times when I asked the will of the Lord then either disobeyed or argued because I didn’t like His answer. Perhaps you remember those times, too. Have you ever looked back and moaned, “Why didn’t I obey? Why couldn’t I see how badly this would turn out? Or, lamented, ‘How different my life would have been if I had listened to His voice!”
We can’t turn back the clock or erase decisions we wish we had not made. But, there is one thing we can do: We can resolve to follow His voice today. We have no guarantees for tomorrow but we can confess yesterday’s failures, accept that He has put them as far from us as the East is from the West, then turn our faces toward tomorrow with renewed hope knowing that whatever He commands, He also provides power to perform. Our only responsibility is to obey when we know His voice. Even when the voice is contrary to our desires and plans.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Resting Where Glory Abides Isaiah 10:11
Americans are busy people. Work, home, civic duties, sports, kids, social activities and school all demand a share of our time. When Christians add to that mix a variety of church activities and responsibilities, it’s a wonder any of us find time to even bathe and sleep. Busy is not just our nature, it is our culture and demanded by modern life!
That isn’t all bad. There is joy in activity and value in feeling productive. Laziness was considered by the early church to be one of the seven deadly sins. Paul gave honor to all activity when he instructed the Corinthian Christians that whatever they did they should “do all to the glory of God” (I Cor.10:31). His statement almost equates doing with glorifying God, and if we had no other scriptures on the subject that might surely be the case.
But, good things can end up becoming detrimental when we let them drift out of balance and I suspect we may have done just that with our highly prized busyness. It is not only “doing” that glorifies God, but “resting” as well.
When God designed commands for moral behavior and worship attitudes, He included instruction that one day of the week was to be devoted to rest. Resting on that day was a way of bringing honor and glory to God. It was as much a good thing to rest as it was to refrain from stealing.
We should not be surprised at this because God, Himself, takes time to rest (Gen. 2:2). Although He does not need physical refreshment like we creatures of clay, He found rhythm and balance of work/rest to be a valuable thing and declared it “good.” Isaiah tell us that the resting place of God is a glorious thing (Isaiah 10:11b). Just as the day has one type of glory and the night another (I Cor. 15:41) so giving God glory through our work is one way we honor Him, but it is also true that we glorify Him by resting.
How sad when we only see activity as a way to glorify God and miss the glory of resting. In the classic, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster considers the word of Satan and states, “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness” and manyness,” he will rest satisfied.”
That is a sobering thought we should all take to heart.
That isn’t all bad. There is joy in activity and value in feeling productive. Laziness was considered by the early church to be one of the seven deadly sins. Paul gave honor to all activity when he instructed the Corinthian Christians that whatever they did they should “do all to the glory of God” (I Cor.10:31). His statement almost equates doing with glorifying God, and if we had no other scriptures on the subject that might surely be the case.
But, good things can end up becoming detrimental when we let them drift out of balance and I suspect we may have done just that with our highly prized busyness. It is not only “doing” that glorifies God, but “resting” as well.
When God designed commands for moral behavior and worship attitudes, He included instruction that one day of the week was to be devoted to rest. Resting on that day was a way of bringing honor and glory to God. It was as much a good thing to rest as it was to refrain from stealing.
We should not be surprised at this because God, Himself, takes time to rest (Gen. 2:2). Although He does not need physical refreshment like we creatures of clay, He found rhythm and balance of work/rest to be a valuable thing and declared it “good.” Isaiah tell us that the resting place of God is a glorious thing (Isaiah 10:11b). Just as the day has one type of glory and the night another (I Cor. 15:41) so giving God glory through our work is one way we honor Him, but it is also true that we glorify Him by resting.
How sad when we only see activity as a way to glorify God and miss the glory of resting. In the classic, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster considers the word of Satan and states, “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in “muchness” and manyness,” he will rest satisfied.”
That is a sobering thought we should all take to heart.
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