Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Scripture: “ This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” -Isaiah 30;18
Insight: The two verses above from Isaiah 30 are both equally powerful reminders, but each has a unique message for us to consider. Isaiah 30:15 reminds us that God alone should be our source of strength and there is no other thing that can satisfy the deep cravings of our soul, yet so many times we cling to false idols or the very things that enslave us to find rest, and of course they never satisfy, and in fact they only frustrate us more and more. They are most likely set up as strongholds in our life for us to realize we don’t have the strength in ourself to overcome them, therefore we must repent and turn to the Lord alone for the freedom from them we desire. Do you have any of those in your life? I can name a few over the course of my life that have really brought me to my knees and forced me to finally admit I needed God’s power to help me overcome them. Currently, the boulder in my path is trying to find security in money, or other things that this world says we can rely on, but as I am painfully finding out, there is no such thing. Our only true security source is found in the Lord. Everything else is shifting sand and a false idol that can never satisfy but only causes more stress. God says to repent of whatever it is that is endsalving you and return to Him. It is never too late to try again.
In Isaiah 30:18 we see the Lord’s character revealed in his patience and graciousness towards us. He waits for us, for as long as it takes, because He realizes the struggles we are facing are too much for us, and so He never leaves us or forsakes us, as Hebrews 13:5 says, but He waits patiently until we finally cry out for His help, realizing we can’t face this giant on our own. It could be an addiction to drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, power or anything else that takes us away from being under the security found only in the Lord. We can try to numb our pain, run from our disappointments and pretend we have control over things that enslave us, but eventually they wear us down. God wants us to be His and only His, according to Dr. Charles Stanley. He also says God doesn’t want us to suffer by “refusing Him and instead clinging to that which keeps you enslaved.” This can be the false pursuit of wealth, like I have experienced and been enslaved by, where I’m constantly chasing a mirage, thinking there is a magic number where I will feel secure, only to never reach it or worse find out once I got there, it offered nothing but broken promises and a false security. It is like you buy your dream sports car, and for a few days it is exhilarating and fun, and you tell all your friends about it and take them for a ride, But after a while, the luster fades and you resent how much it costs to service it, and how much you worry about someone else smashing into you every time you take it on the Highway or park it in a crowded lot. It goes from a blessing to a burden, and that is true of so many things that we set up as idols in our lives, often not even recognizing we have done so until major damage has already been done. It is false promises like that God wants to free us from, and He waits patiently and lovingly for us to turn back to Him. So we must all turn away from the things that enslave us, admit that they are too powerful for us to manage on our own, repent of making false idols in our life, and run into the loving and gracious arms of our Savior.
Prayer: Father God, thank You that You wait for us to repent and to turn away from the things that enslave us and to run back into your loving and patient arms, full of grace and forgiveness. We need your strength Lord Jesus and we freely admit how foolish we many times our in pursuing lesser things that never satisfy. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen!
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