Isaiah 36:10
Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have now come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.
The Lord said<--- some of the scariest words to utter that bring the most peace. The thing about them being scary is that most people don't think God does this any more. People think you're crazy sometimes. People who have never experienced the actual voice of God think you're nuts. Can I offer that hearing the voice of God in your life can strengthen the faith of others? I believe it has and it can. The thing I've had to be sure of was that it was God. I still remember the first time I clearly heard His voice. My mother's grandmother died and my aunt had flown in from Hawaii without her kids for the funeral. My mom's mom died when my mom was 19 but my aunt was 14 so she'd spent a whole lot of tie with their grandmother. I'd never seen someone I actually loved fall apart like that. I'd also really loved my great grandma so that night I prayed hard. I was laying in the same position from which I'm writing and I uttered this phrase "I know you love her more than I do but I want her back." <---GIRL WHAT?!?!?! My eyes immediately flew open because 1. that's not a statement I'd make and 2. God said "I do love her more than you do" as clearly as if He'd been in the room... and He was. Ever since then I've been careful to listen to my own prayers because often times the things the Lord wants to say to me come after something I've said that isn't me. Often the Spirit in me will cause me to say something uncharacteristic and the Lord will agree. The other thing I love is that anytime I've heard from the Lord and I've asked for confirmation, He's faithful. I know its Him each and every time.
I also know that there's peace when you know you're in a "The Lord said" moment. I don't have a ton of examples but I have a few. I have peace about 2 situations that has caused me tremendous levels of anxiety and stress over the last year. I didn't just want to go to medical school but I wanted to go to a particular one. I'm not going there. However, I've got peace. Why? Because He gave it to me. He told me straight up "Say yes. This is what I have for you." Now I couldn't say yes the way I wanted to in the moment but knowing what the will of God is and aligning yourself with it is a process. I can tell you I'm thrilled now. I'm super excited BUT I wasn't always. Can I offer that He can change situations and move things to make what His Will is for you your will for you as well? He has for me.
Isaiah 36:18
Beware lest Hezekiah persuade and mislead you by saying, The Lord will deliver us. Has any one of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Don't let anyone tell you about what your God can do for you. I know that's a bold statement but the thing about having a personal relationship with Him is that He tells me directly. I needed the unbelievable sacrifice of Jesus Christ to tear the veil but now I can approach the throne boldly, bringing all the things that hurt and trouble me directly to God. Just because someone else has no experience with God bringing someone out of something, God promising them something that came to pass doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Can I offer that there's a faith walk and preparation required to be in a position to hear from God about what hasn't come to pass and then to believe despite what you see that everyone isn't ready for? There most definitely is. There are levels to this relationship with God. There are always deeper places in Him to go. There's always more. I'm constantly seeking to be in deeper relationship with Him. What I love about God is that He isn't pushy. If you can only believe Him for something small, He's faithful over that until you can build your faith in Him BUT there's work there. I promise its worth it but its not always easy. God makes it possible, not easy. He's so faithful.
Isaiah 37:17, 20
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, reproach, insult, and defy the living God.
Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know (understand and realize) that You are the Lord, even You only.
I love when God does something for His own sake. What I mean by that is when He doesn't something because He knows not only that He's the only way but that you actually believe on, hope on, and rely on Him to come through. Faith moves God. It is my faith alone that I'm saved and made His own so I know faith matters. I think often times I've believed in who God is but not in who God is for me. Yes I could believe He was mighty and all knowing but I hadn't had enough personal experience or developed my relationship enough to know Him as gentle, loving, kind, and merciful. I'd never experienced a reprieve from my own pain by being in His presence. Oh but I have now. A praise born out of struggle and strife is a different type of praise. Faith that He'll move despite what it looks like is a different kind of faith. Any time you're reaching farther in your relationship, believing more deeply in who He is and who you are in Him, there's something more for you there. I've found that worshiping when I didn't feel like it made for a better day overall. When there was nothing I wanted to do at all and I didn't really even want to worship, I made the decision to listen to gospel and eventually it would open my heart regardless of the posture I started in. God has literally done all the work of getting me from closed off, hurt, disappointed, and disengaged into worship. He's able.
Isaiah 37:26, 28-29
But, says the God of Israel] have you not heard that I purposed to do it long ago, that I planned it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that you [king of Assyria] should [be My instrument to] lay waste fortified cities, making them ruinous heaps.
But I [the Lord] know your sitting down and your going out and your coming in and your raging against Me.
Because your raging against Me and your arrogance and careless ease have come to My ears, therefore will I put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way you came.
There is no news. My mentor always says that to me. She says "Nothing you're bringing me is news." When I told her I love women, she was like "and..." She just couldn't see that that was all I had to say. That wasn't news. God is the same. He knew everything before anything existed. He knew I'd get a splinter off the back porch of our house, that I'd switch off the bike to my kid sister and take the scooter and have this scar on the inside of my leg. He even knew I'd suffer with hurting myself for the majority of my life despite knowing Him. He knew all these things. He also knew I'd have all these divine intersections...who would have thought the girl I met at 15 would have a baby at 35 that I'd get to spend so much time with? That same girl is the reason why I went to Hampton, met my love, met someone who knew my mentor, met my mentor....it's a series of divine appointments. God knew exactly how He was going to move me from HU to UNC to UNMC back to UNC and eventually to Howard. (I'm not yet ready to call them HU...its the Hamptonian in me!)
Nothing happens without God's foreknowledge about it. I love that in this story God had a plan but it changed because of the behavior of the tool He was planning to use to accomplish His will. I think the plans God are flexible to some degree. I think God can see how free will causes us to do certain things and He can use that. God can use anything to accomplish His will. I love that my decisions don't alter how He can use me. Even when I'm wrong, I can still serve Him. And when I can't be used in the situation God originally wanted me to be in, I'm glad someone else can. There's no news. I'm glad He knows everything because I know so little.
Isaiah 37:31-32
And the remnant that has survived of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and a band that survives out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
I love fruit. I really do. I'm an exotic fruits person: pineapple, mango, papaya, guava. Those are my faves. I eat lots of bananas and apples because my mom cuts me up one most days. An apple is usually my commute snack. I also love fruit for another reason. Fruit is the evidence of being plugged in spiritually. I've seen so much fruit in my life as a result of all the things I've done to seek God more fervently. Peace. Peace is a fruit I've eaten of so often in this time with the Lord. He's given me such assurance that He's got everything. Its handled. I need not worry because the best is what He has for me. I love that this verse talks about taking root down before bearing fruit upward. I've got to be rooted and grounded in the Word and in prayer to be the person people normally see. Another fruit is the ability to show up for people. I'm more present because I've already done my work for today. This is my work. This is my time with Him. Its the first and the last thing I do. I quite literally try to give Him the first fruits of my day. It doesn't always work like that but I love it when it does. And because I'm plugged in so often, I'm usually able to still be what I need to be for others despite whatever else may be going on.
Isaiah 38:2-3
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord
And said, Remember [earnestly] now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in faithfulness and in truth, with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Look at this prayer Hezekiah prayed. He was sick and He turned to God and reminded God of his own faithful service to Him. I love this because Hezekiah believed God to be able. Despite what He was looking at around Him and experiencing in His own body He knew God was bigger. God's a bad man y'all! He can do somethings okay. He makes things happen. I also love that even though God knows exactly what we need, He still wants us to ask. He still wants to be beseeched and sought after. I think this piece is a critical part of faith. I love that everything about Christianity is consent. You have to literally invite God in. Try it....He changed my whole life.
Isaiah 38:7-8
And this will be the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken:
Behold, I will turn the shadow [denoting the time of day] on the steps or degrees, which has gone down on the steps or sundial of Ahaz, backward ten steps or degrees. And the sunlight turned back ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down.
God sent a sign. And He literally told 'Kiah (yes I did that) exactly what it was. I've never received a sign like this but I have said to God "If you want me to do this, make this happen beforehand." I've also said "I need assurance that this is right. Make this happen." And He's faithful. Even when its an utterance of my spirit and not made with my mouth out loud, He's faithful. Can I offer that if God promises you something He'll be faithful to confirm it? He has for me. He has so many times for me for the same promise. Some promises, some big ones that require big faith and big commitment, require more confirmation for me. I'm kind of a confirmation hound. I love seeing Him move. Its His faithfulness that I so enjoy. You know how you can know something but you want to see it anyway? I'm like that about His faithfulness. Sometimes He does say "Do not test me" but I've grown in my faith enough to not do that so much. Its still awesome though.
Isaiah 38:11
I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
Here's a hard truth: You can't see God and men at the same time. There was brief 33 year period of time that you could see both but its not happening currently. Currently, you can only be in the literal presence of God or men. For those who belong to Him, the seeing God part is inevitable. Its going to happen. The other thing that's going to happen is that if you know Him, you not only will see Him for the first time but you'll also see those who loved Him like you did again. Sometimes I think of the many dueling pianos being played in Heaven for His glory. My grandmother and my great grandmother are both using that instrument to praise Him right now. My Aunt Gene is giving a mean Soprano solo unto God and my Uncle George is probably penning a sermon. My Aunt Earnestine is probably make him a coffee. I know its kind of funny to think about but those who know Him, who called on Him and are thus called by Him, are with Him. If you know someone knew Him, they're with Him. Salvation is immutable and everlasting. I'm so grateful to know that those who loved Him have gotten the inheritance daughters and sons of God are entitled to through the blood of the Lamb. I also love knowing that when my work is done , I'll be right there harmonizing with my Aunt and meeting the grandmother I've talked to all my life for the first time.
Isaiah 38:17
Behold, it was for my peace that I had intense bitterness; but You have loved back my life from the pit of corruption and nothingness, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
All my sins have been cast away. Nothing I've done or will do will ever be seen through the blood of the Lamb. I am without spot or wrinkle. And you know where that helps me? With my perception of myself. When I worry that I'm not pretty enough or smart enough I remember that if the blood of Christ can wash me white as snow then all that other stuff is just noise. Now, I like to look nice but I also know that God seems me exactly for who I am, His beloved.
I also think that first sentence is really interesting. For my peace I had intense bitterness. I think of how you don't know what peace is if you've always had it. You can really grasp what it is to rest in Him if you've never been without rest. I've been bitter, disappointed, disparaging, and quite literally unable. Can I offer that I know the gift of peace because I haven't always had it? I do. Its wonderful.
Isaiah 38:19
The living, the living—they shall thank and praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known to the children Your faithfulness and Your truth.
Let everything that have breath...that means you too. Let all things rejoice. I remember as a child hearing a hymn that said something about the rocks crying out in praise and in my mind I saw animated rocks crying Hosanna in the highest. I giggled in church but honestly, I don't want the rocks to cry out because I didn't! I want my praise to be among the praises that go the the throne on a daily basis.
I also liked what the 2nd half of this verse says. I love the idea of making known to the kids that my wife and I will have that God is faithful and true. The example I hope to set for my kids through my faith, through my prayer life, through my bible study is one that I hope gives them a foundation from which they can go anywhere. Even at 12 weeks, when I was keeping the baby I read the Bible aloud to Him every night. I was reading it anyway so he can start hearing from God as well. I think its so vital that children see the faith of their parents and know that their parents need help too.
When I think about the covering of prayer that I know God will require of me in my own household, I know this time I spend with Him, getting to know Him, trusting and believing on Him is vital. Its critical preparation for who He's calling me to be. Your spouse is supposed to lead you back to the throne of Grace. Its my prayer that that's exactly what my wife knows I'll do and relies on me for because she's seen me do it so many times. I want to be known as a woman of prayer.
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