SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 31
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. [Isaiah 31:1]
I do not look to Egypt or horses or chariots and horsemen for hope or help, but where do I look?
What are the equivalents in my own life: my bank account, my investments, my health plan, my own gifts and abilities, police force, the government, my own ‘goodness’, our insurance policy?
Right now I am not in trouble, as Israel was at the time of this prophecy; it is in times of trouble that our true commitments are revealed.
How soon after trouble sets in do I turn to the Lord for help?
Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it. [Isaiah 31:5]
This passage shows how much the Lord is willing and ready to help, to shield and protect and rescue us.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. [Matthew 23:37]
And these words from Jesus repeat the same idea, only here He also shows why we do not experience it.
But you were not willing…
It seems to me when life is “good” or easy”, we become less focused on, and dependent on, the Lord for help.
We rely mostly on our own understanding and abilities, secondarily on those human supports that are around us.
Only when things get desperate do we cry out in prayer, usually angry that God let it get that far.
We just had “Remembrance Day” in Canada (Nov 11); it has been said that there are no atheists in foxholes.
In times of severe trouble or fear or hardship it is not surprising that people seek the Lord for help.
But He is willing to support and help us NOW, not just when things get bad.
He is willing to help us, are we willing to trust in Him, to lean on Him?
PRAYER:
Lord, I need to be honest that the hardest times to remember and to lean on You is when things are “easy” and “good”. I am not asking for You to make things harder, but help me to be willing now, instead of waiting for the tough times to look to You.