SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 64
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. [Isaiah 64:8]
Isaiah is pleading with God to do something, to not remain silent while His chosen people are devastated – even though they deserve to be punished.
He does not dispute how sinful they have been, but he pleads on the basis of the fatherhood of God.
God is their Father, their Maker, and they are the work of His hands – therefore help them!
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. [John 10:28-30]
Jesus is God’s final answer to Isaiah’s plea for mercy.
Though God stepped in sooner, all the other help was but preparation for the final answer: Jesus.
Jesus is the hand of God entering into the world to defeat the powers of sin, death and hell, and to restore God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
As the Father’s hand is sovereign, so also Jesus’ hand is sovereign – no one can snatch us from their hands!
We are the clay, God (and Jesus) are the Potter, we are the work of His hand!
Today’s reading reminds us that God does not always show up when we want Him to, or in the way we want Him to, but He does show up, He has shown up, and He will show up at the right time.
In the meantime, we need to cling to Him as our Father, our Maker, trusting that nothing or no one is greater than He is.
Every time we pray, every time we face hard situations, every time things seem hopeless, we need to echo Isaiah’s words by faith – Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. [Isaiah 64:8]
What a concept, we can call God “abba”, father!
“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” [Mark 14:36]
Jesus models this kind of prayer in His own moment of crisis, and also shows us how to surrender to the sovereign hand of God during those times.
Even as we echo Isaiah’s prayer, we should also echo this prayer of Jesus, placing ourselves at His mercy, in His hands, under His control.
Our cup will be different from Isaiah’s, different from Jesus’, but we can still pray like them.
It’s important to notice how we actually respond to hardship: anger, self-reliance, doubt, demanding prayers.
How would things change if we responded like Isaiah, like Jesus, in submission to our loving Father?
PRAYER:
Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.