Isaiah cried out in light of desperate circumstances. Pain, enemies, fear. He needed God immediately! Even in his crying out, he rested in two eternal truths – evil would be vanquished and the righteous would be avenged. Someday. His hope looked beyond the threats that were beating down his door and found peace, strength, and security in God’s eternal promises. He knew the hope of eternal blessing.
But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
Isaiah 33:21-22 ESV
a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver;
the Lord is our king; he will save us.
Those promises that paint pictures of future joy should lift all of us on those battle-weary day.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
Isaiah 35:10 ESV
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
This day, and the one after, might still bring heartache and challenge, but we can look to God’s unbreakable promises to keep us pressing on.
And yet.
And yet, this life matters to God, too. When Hezekiah came under attack, he laid everything out before God, literally.
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Isaiah 37:14-20 ESV
So when the struggles in our lives have us praying prayers similar to Isaiah’s:
O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
Isaiah 33:2 ESV
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
We can rest in God’s promises. He will be the stability of our forever, and the stability of our current time.
Lord God, thank you for your presence. I don’t need to ask you to be with me, because you already are. You are my salvation in this moment and for eternity. You are my daily strength, and my eternal security. You are my momentary hope, and my unbreakable promise. You are concerned with both this temporary world and the eternal one to come. Thank you for caring for me in the everyday circumstances that threaten to overwhelm while also giving eternal assurance that supersedes everything this world might bring my way. In Jesus name, amen.
Erin (6intow)
Sixty-six books in a year 