July 30th, 20

JULY 30,  Be Wise.  Remember.  Speak Out.

Our readings today are Isaiah 63-64, Psalm 107 and John 2 and are being read from the New Living Translation. 

Have you ever felt like you don’t belong to the Lord or questioned whether God is really involved in your life at all?   Have you ever wondered if God loves you, whether he really sees you and knows what you’re going through?  Those are not thoughts unique to you.  God’s people found themselves wondering the same things in the days of Isaiah.  Isaiah 63:19 reads, 

Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you, as though we had never been known as your people.”

The people of Isaiah’s day knew the stories of God’s miraculous deliverance of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, how he provided them a dry path of rescue, along the bottom of the sea, and gave them rest from their enemies, in a land of abundance. Yet, even with knowledge of these stories of his faithful love, they were struggling to see God in their immediate circumstances.

David, after reciting many of these same examples, where God came through for his people who found themselves in desperate circumstances, ends Psalm 107 with this statement:

Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord. (Ps 107:43 NLT)

Isaiah and David, through the pages of the Bible, are challenging us to look at our life, and at world history, with the eyes of faith.  They are calling out for us to see the themes.  There is a thread that runs through it all, holding it all together.  

There is a theme of forgetfulness, distrust and rebellion on the part of humanity.  We forget to call on God, we go our own way, and we find ourselves in circumstances that we are powerless to overcome.  But a greater, more hopeful and triumphant theme is the faithful love of the Lord.  

Because of his faithful love for us, as we call out to him in our fear, anxiety, calamity and confusion, he responds.  Psalm 107 tells us that:

He leads (vs7)

He satisfies (vs9)

He leads us out of the darkness (vs14)

He frees us from our prisons (vs16)

He heals us with his word (vs20)

He calms the storm (vs29)

And Isaiah is reminding us that He is with us in all of it.

“In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them.  In his love and mercy he redeemed them.  He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.” (Isa 63:9)

So, be wise.  Recount all that God has done in world history.  Take to heart his miraculous hand in your own life. And tell others about his faithful love!  That love is changing the world!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

Has the Lord redeemed you?  Then speak out!

Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.”

You are loved!