He Will Come and Save You!
What a word from the Lord! I’ve been journaling through Isaiah and just when I think my spirit is filled to the brim, His words overflow my soul and sit in awe….
I’ve been feeling so guilty lately as I whine my way through life and sink into a puddle of despair. It’s not a pit… just a puddle. Just deep enough to leave my soul soggy and frustrated because life is hard. And then God begins to open my eyes to those who have problems so far beyond what I’m going through I’m heart sick. All around me is abuse, loss, depression, sickness and children living in depravity beyond where our mind can travel and I begin to realize God is doing a work in me. This bible journaling experience has become a counseling session between me and the Lord. The last couple of days have been pretty intense. I hope at the end of this message your soul will be encouraged and refreshed as a cool glass of water in the dessert… because that’s where I landed.
Why God allows the Struggle…
- Because Sometimes We’re Stupid
Throughout scripture we follow the journey of God’s people. And from the beginning it started out with poor decision making. The original family of Adam and Eve had two boys, one of which murdered the other. We didn’t make it until the second generation of human beings when a quarter of the earth’s population was a killer! Imagine if one quarter of your community was filled with murderers? You only thought we lived in harsh times. Yes… that was my attempt at warped humor, but not far from the truth is it? What’s happening in our society is self inflicted stupidity handed down from generation to generation. We love God, we get arrogant and forget Him, we get into trouble, we call on Him to save us, He does, we get arrogant and forget Him, we get into t…. Over and over the same story, just different stupid decisions and different characters in the plot.
In Chapter 2 of Isaiah, the warnings come in Isaiah 2:6-12 KJV
[6] Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. [7] Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: [8] Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: [9] And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. [10] Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. [11] The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. [12] For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Israel forsook the God of their creation, their people and embraced wickedness, wealth and the ways of idolatry until God’s wrath was felt. The visible, unapologetic pride of the United States of America is an unrecognized depth of evil by most of the people. Several years ago a young person made a joke about the fact his father had made the statement that “he didn’t really care about starving people in Africa,” when a fund raising television commercial came on. That statement has stuck in my craw for over twenty years. It wasn’t that the man didn’t care about suffering, he was just selective on what suffering he cared about. That is what’s happening to the church. We are selective on what suffering we want to recognize.
I get it, we can’t fix the world. Adam and Eve couldn’t stop one son from killing the other! But at what point can we know that there is an evil in our own community of the abuse of children, of the elderly generation suffering in silence, of a wicked generation exposing our children to a filth that was once an offense for which you’d be jailed and is now celebrated by a flag flying group of people who have more rights than the American soldier. Oh yeah… I said it.
Stupidity runs deep.
Number 2 Reason we Struggle…
2. We’ve Turned our Back on God
Isaiah 30:20-21 KJV
[20] And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: [21] And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
The likely reason Israel heard the Lord “behind them” was because they turned their back on God. If God were in the place that He should be in, He would be leading. He wouldn’t have to speak to the people from behind them. Tell me we’ve not turned our back on God without saying those words:
- Church is not important.
- Morality is debatable.
- Christian cussing is okay (of course I went there)
- Nobody wants to offend anybody with the truth.
- We can watch or read the news and compartmentalize what pertains to us. If it’s happening in your community, it has to do with you.
- Lying, lazing, politicians are the accepted standard.
- You don’t have to live like a Christian to be one.
There’s not enough room on the internet to describe the ways we turn our backs on God. Until we need Him. And then we quickly about face, fall on our knees (maybe) and cry out for Him to save us from ourselves. I ain’t throwing stones… I’ve got my own issues. But when I read Isaiah God convicts my heart that I need to get out of my pity puddle and do something more. We need to be in church and in the word of God at every opportunity, learning what He has to say.
Stop Struggling…
Easier said than done, right? I don’t mean to make light of what you may be facing. I know myself that regardless of the severity of the struggle, it’s still hard on the spirit when day in and day out life hands you hard times.
Isaiah 35:1-4 KJV
[1] The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. [2] It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. [3] Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. [4] Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Another instruction I noticed from the Isaiah 35 was the multiple weaknesses God addresses. Telling Isaiah to encourage those struggling with loneliness, weak hands, feeble knees, and fearful heart, and in spite of it all there is rejoicing, and the blossom as a rose, because God will come “with vengeance” and save those who struggle. As upset as I get because our world is such a mess, in the reading of God’s word I find great strength and joy in knowing that God is on His way. He allows me to struggle in His providence, just as He did and does continue to allow the children of Israel.
Sometimes the struggle is our own doing, sometimes we have nothing to do with it. But forever and always God is with us and we can trust Him, that justice will prevail. In the mean time, He doesn’t expect our reaction to be complacency. He gave Isaiah the Word to preach, Israel suffered, but God rescued, sin separates the child of God from Him, but the blood of Jesus covers that sin and restores the relationship with a Holy God. But we have to repent and turn from the life of sin… not continue in it, and not ignore it. God expects action. We serve the most Amazing God… or at least we should be serving. I pray you find your place in His Kingdom.
