I've been reading through Isaiah and recently I've come to Ch.40. These few chapters in the book are SO God-exalting that I couldnt help but write a bit from them.
"...All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever." (40:6c-8)
Here we're reminded that men are small before God. Isaiah uses a metaphor here to say flesh "is" grass. We know this isn't literal. The imagery here is clear though. All of us can relate to seeing grass in all its' glory. We've seen a grassy field when it's a healthy crisp dark green and we've seen it as a short crumbly yellow. We've seen flowers when they're fully bloomed and beautiful and we've seen the petals fallen, curled up, and dried. Here Isaiah says the life of the grass and the life of the flower is in the hand of the Lord... or more specifically in the "breath" of the Lord. This tells us God is the giver of life and secondarily He is in charge of the seasons and the weather. That makes me wonder... we sure do complain a lot about the weather don't we? It's almost never how we want it... it's either too hot or too cold. I wonder how our perspective might change if we see the weather as God's will and God's doing. If we did, perhaps we wouldn't complain... we'd have a small daily reminder to accept what God is doing even when it isn't comfortable for us. If we can do that with the weather... it might be easier for us to roll with what God is doing when He does things differently in the bigger areas of our lives, huh?
God also holds human life in His hands. Again, this reminds us of the attitude we are to have when loved ones die. When life is given and when life is taken... it's of God. We need to sift through our emotions to see that God's wisdom, timing, and decisions are by nature greater than our minds could ever fully understand. We shouldn't complain therefore, but should trust that He knows what He's doing. God made us emotional beings in His image, but we must submit those emotions to Him. Our emotions are subject being influenced by our unsanctified flesh. We can experience circumstances in life that help us allow our emotions to crash forth in floods. These floods of emotion that often come from pain are what crowd out wisdom and a biblical understanding of the character of God and the truths of His Word. This is partly why we sin as believers... we allow our circumstances to affect our human emotions to such an extent that we forget the commands, truths, and words of God in Scripture. When we forget those things we act on our emotions too quickly and fall into sin. I believe this is the case for MUCH of our sin in life.
This is why v.8 says "the word of our God stands forever." The word of God stands beyond withering grass, weather, and fading human life. It's the Word of God we are to stand on. Time and seasons pass. People die. Our constant in all this however is the living Word of our God. He knows seasons pass and people die... in fact, it's all in His capable hands. We must therefore look at these things and be drawn not to our emotions or self help books, but to THE book of God's written revelation.
V.12-14 continue to exalt God. He carefully created the earth. He "measured," "marked off," "calculated," and "weighed" the elements as only He could do. Evolution couldn't do this. Evolution works practically by accident or as it goes, right? The principle of Evolution is that it adapts to its' surroundings. God didn't have to do that. He did it all from the beginning. He planned the end from the beginning. Nothing surprises Him. We find similar statements in v.22 as He "stretches out the heavens like a curtain." In v.26 we learn that God put an exact number of stars and has names for the stars in the sky and that according to his plan and purpose... "not one of them is missing." Evolution didn't do this... a sovereign God with purpose did it.
Look back at v.15-20. Here God is contrasted with the other nations, those who think they are powerful. Scripture says "they are like a drop in the bucket." A drop is pretty small. Put a drop of water in a bucket and hold it out in the sun... it dries up quickly. A comparison is a consideration of similarities and a contrast is a consideration of differences. Here God is contrasted with the nations. Lebanon is mentioned specifically. This contrast culminates in v.18-20 where we are asked rhetorically, "To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it with gold, and a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering selects a tree that does not rot; he seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter." The implication is that nothing can compare to God!
What I find interesting here though is that with all the Bible's talk (especially the OT) of idols and with all God's righteous hatred of idols... we're never told the process idol worshipers went through. This passage gives incredible detail. It says there are idols for rich people and idols for poor. Think about this... idolatry was a business in Bible times. Idols were merchandise that different grades and quality. I believe we're given this information not just as historical data... in fact I don't think that was its' purpose here at all. These details of idol manufacturing are given to us in subtle sarcasm. Imagine how much thought went into idol making, idol sales and purchases, idol advertising, etc. Can you see why God hated it so much? To say idolatry was premeditated is an understatement. People bought idols like we would buy furniture or a television. It was commonplace, tolerated, household sin. Today the issue isn't so much material idols in the way described in Isaiah, but mental idols. We spend just as much time forming, crafting, thinking about, and nursing an infatuation of other idols in our minds. For humanity these idols could be false gods that are ok with the way they're living. A false god doesn't judge us and only considers things sinful when we do.
Finally the classic passage in Isaiah 40 is at the end in v.29-31,
"He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who [l]wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will [m]mount up with [n]wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary."
Here we're told God gives strength. He gives it to those who wait on Him. Often times of waiting are the hardest times. The waiting itself can make us grow weary and tired. We find renewal however in waiting not simply for the sake of waiting, but waiting "on the Lord." When our waiting is focused on God we're reminded again that He is in charge and if there's anyone we can wait on AND trust in... it's God. Waiting on God never brings disappointment.
Thank you Lord for Isaiah 40. :)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Updates and speaking of dates...
Hello again blog,
We’ve been apart for some time now it feels. It’s hard to believe the last time I wrote was in late October. Let me update a bit. Life has been good and I’m still taking it easy. I find that on some levels I’m still healing from my last breakup. It’s been a challenge at times to re-examine my thoughts on how I view God’s leading, how view the way relationships should be done, how I view the emotions of a woman. I’ve asked a lot of questions and done a lot of thinking and talking with friends. I’m glad to say that through all my speculation I’m sure the Lord has it all figured out and this takes some pressure off. My approach has been to simply have the faith of a child. A child doesn’t worry about where their next meal will come from or if they’ll have a roof over their head tomorrow or any of that. A child has a simple faith. As I’ve had time to take a step back and rethink some things, I’ve come to realize just how much we can complicate life. Trying to discern and read God can really come back to bite you if you put too much weight on what you think He’s doing. It’s one thing to trust God for your future, but it’s whole different thing to trust God for the future that you want for yourself and get upset when He starts doing something different.
I continue to recover and regroup emotionally and spiritually. I say I’ve taken things a day at a time because frankly that’s all I’ve had strength to do. I’m healing well however, growing still, drawing near to Him, and pursuing Him where He has me today. I’ve realized that it takes more faith to trust God when I truly don’t know what’s next than it does to trust Him for what I in my mind THINKS is next. I’m tired of worrying what’s next. The interior repair job is going well. It can be hard at times learning new things and getting frustrated when I mess it up. It’s a fun job though. I look forward to getting better and doing it well. The pool job let me go. The owner wanted to fire one of his employees and seemed to have all these dreams of hiring me on full time eventually to take his place. He talked it up real big even though I told him I’d given my other job a 2 year commitment. I worked at the pool job part time for a little while until he asked me one day if I was good with going full time in January. I told him again I had given my word to the other job. I was willing to work part time for the pool job until God closed the door on it and I went full time with the other one or until something else happened. I don’t know the future but I was willing to continue and let God do what He wanted to do. The night before my next workday at just after 10pm the owner sent me a text message and let me go, saying my last paychecks would be taped to his door. I was disappointed he did it over text message and that he was willing to move forward and expect me to break the commitment I’d given to the other job for him. What would it have said of me if I couldn’t keep my word with someone else? I’m glad God did this however. There was a lot of drama with that company that I was brought into unnecessarily and I just trust that God was protecting me from something He didn’t want for me. I’ve picked up some construction work with my pastor and am working my main job part time. Looks like I’ve been learning a lot of new things lately.
Still leading music at church and teaching every now and then. I got to do almost the entire Christmas service… it was stressful with so much on my shoulders and a number of technical difficulties all happening at once, but we pulled it off! The gospel was preached, though I could’ve been a little deeper and had more application I think. It was a simple message. My friend and I are talking of teaching an evangelism class. I’ve dreamed of doing that for some time. We’d probably start with the youth and see how it would go with the adults. We’ll see if it actually happens this time, lol. It takes a lot of planning and commitment to do something like that.
Other than that, I’m pleased to announce I’ve quit the world of online dating. I met a wonderful woman on Christianmingle. We chatted for about a week, then dated a few times over a period of about a month, then we decided to tell the others we were talking to that we planned to invest in eachother. We agreed that the next logical step was make it official. Since her parents aren’t believers, I pursued the man who she considers her spiritual father, asked his blessing, and we’ve been together for about 2 months now. I never thought I’d ever agree to just casual dating, but this was different. It wasn’t without direction or without talk of serious things. She’s 23 and has been saved for about 6 years. She’s the only believer in her family as I am. Strangely enough we have a very similar personality mix, though that ultimately isn’t a big deal for me… it’s just a plus. Being with her has shown me just how much Choleric is mixed into my personality or is at least learned. It’s interesting how well we can interact, joke, and yet have deep conversations. Beyond all this, it’s been so refreshing for me to actually feel wanted for the man who God has made me. For so long now and especially recently I’ve felt so rejected. For so long I’d heard things like, “Joseph, you’re a great guy, but…” I’d heard it in so many ways that I was growing so tired. I’d also shown it in so many ways as best I could… with the women in my life as friends and even those whom I was interested in and when I was in a relationship. It just seemed however that no matter how much I did, no matter how hard I tried, no matter much I tried to show love, leadership, and protection to my sisters in Christ… when it came to more than friends, it was always met with the message that it wasn’t good enough for one reason or another. I kept asking God why He made me the man I am and why He taught me what He had only for it to be rejected. It seems that only a woman who had been treated badly, who couldn’t find a man with the courage to pursue, who was willing to give and be vulnerable but was tired of being taken advantage of… only this kind of woman could appreciate a man that treats her well. And this is what has happened. If I’m to be honest… I found it hard to believe a woman like this could exist. I was beginning to lose hope in women altogether. God has been gracious to me. Though I refuse to presume I know the future… I’m glad that today God has given me a woman who is more than I’d hoped for. She’s not perfect, but that’s good because that means we have something in common!
We’ve been apart for some time now it feels. It’s hard to believe the last time I wrote was in late October. Let me update a bit. Life has been good and I’m still taking it easy. I find that on some levels I’m still healing from my last breakup. It’s been a challenge at times to re-examine my thoughts on how I view God’s leading, how view the way relationships should be done, how I view the emotions of a woman. I’ve asked a lot of questions and done a lot of thinking and talking with friends. I’m glad to say that through all my speculation I’m sure the Lord has it all figured out and this takes some pressure off. My approach has been to simply have the faith of a child. A child doesn’t worry about where their next meal will come from or if they’ll have a roof over their head tomorrow or any of that. A child has a simple faith. As I’ve had time to take a step back and rethink some things, I’ve come to realize just how much we can complicate life. Trying to discern and read God can really come back to bite you if you put too much weight on what you think He’s doing. It’s one thing to trust God for your future, but it’s whole different thing to trust God for the future that you want for yourself and get upset when He starts doing something different.
I continue to recover and regroup emotionally and spiritually. I say I’ve taken things a day at a time because frankly that’s all I’ve had strength to do. I’m healing well however, growing still, drawing near to Him, and pursuing Him where He has me today. I’ve realized that it takes more faith to trust God when I truly don’t know what’s next than it does to trust Him for what I in my mind THINKS is next. I’m tired of worrying what’s next. The interior repair job is going well. It can be hard at times learning new things and getting frustrated when I mess it up. It’s a fun job though. I look forward to getting better and doing it well. The pool job let me go. The owner wanted to fire one of his employees and seemed to have all these dreams of hiring me on full time eventually to take his place. He talked it up real big even though I told him I’d given my other job a 2 year commitment. I worked at the pool job part time for a little while until he asked me one day if I was good with going full time in January. I told him again I had given my word to the other job. I was willing to work part time for the pool job until God closed the door on it and I went full time with the other one or until something else happened. I don’t know the future but I was willing to continue and let God do what He wanted to do. The night before my next workday at just after 10pm the owner sent me a text message and let me go, saying my last paychecks would be taped to his door. I was disappointed he did it over text message and that he was willing to move forward and expect me to break the commitment I’d given to the other job for him. What would it have said of me if I couldn’t keep my word with someone else? I’m glad God did this however. There was a lot of drama with that company that I was brought into unnecessarily and I just trust that God was protecting me from something He didn’t want for me. I’ve picked up some construction work with my pastor and am working my main job part time. Looks like I’ve been learning a lot of new things lately.
Still leading music at church and teaching every now and then. I got to do almost the entire Christmas service… it was stressful with so much on my shoulders and a number of technical difficulties all happening at once, but we pulled it off! The gospel was preached, though I could’ve been a little deeper and had more application I think. It was a simple message. My friend and I are talking of teaching an evangelism class. I’ve dreamed of doing that for some time. We’d probably start with the youth and see how it would go with the adults. We’ll see if it actually happens this time, lol. It takes a lot of planning and commitment to do something like that.
Other than that, I’m pleased to announce I’ve quit the world of online dating. I met a wonderful woman on Christianmingle. We chatted for about a week, then dated a few times over a period of about a month, then we decided to tell the others we were talking to that we planned to invest in eachother. We agreed that the next logical step was make it official. Since her parents aren’t believers, I pursued the man who she considers her spiritual father, asked his blessing, and we’ve been together for about 2 months now. I never thought I’d ever agree to just casual dating, but this was different. It wasn’t without direction or without talk of serious things. She’s 23 and has been saved for about 6 years. She’s the only believer in her family as I am. Strangely enough we have a very similar personality mix, though that ultimately isn’t a big deal for me… it’s just a plus. Being with her has shown me just how much Choleric is mixed into my personality or is at least learned. It’s interesting how well we can interact, joke, and yet have deep conversations. Beyond all this, it’s been so refreshing for me to actually feel wanted for the man who God has made me. For so long now and especially recently I’ve felt so rejected. For so long I’d heard things like, “Joseph, you’re a great guy, but…” I’d heard it in so many ways that I was growing so tired. I’d also shown it in so many ways as best I could… with the women in my life as friends and even those whom I was interested in and when I was in a relationship. It just seemed however that no matter how much I did, no matter how hard I tried, no matter much I tried to show love, leadership, and protection to my sisters in Christ… when it came to more than friends, it was always met with the message that it wasn’t good enough for one reason or another. I kept asking God why He made me the man I am and why He taught me what He had only for it to be rejected. It seems that only a woman who had been treated badly, who couldn’t find a man with the courage to pursue, who was willing to give and be vulnerable but was tired of being taken advantage of… only this kind of woman could appreciate a man that treats her well. And this is what has happened. If I’m to be honest… I found it hard to believe a woman like this could exist. I was beginning to lose hope in women altogether. God has been gracious to me. Though I refuse to presume I know the future… I’m glad that today God has given me a woman who is more than I’d hoped for. She’s not perfect, but that’s good because that means we have something in common!
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