I have been slowly reading through Isaiah for the last couple of weeks, and this morning's breakdown came when I read Chapter 30, verses 19-22:
"For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold- plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, 'Be gone!'"
Even as I write that and read it again myself, my body threatens to give way to a flood of tears. I could not understand why that passage in particular would bring me to such an emotional state. I have read it so many times before. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this time, I was reading it in the context of the rest of Isaiah for once. Let's open it up a little bit.
Isaiah spent the majority of his life prophesying to a stubborn, hard-hearted nation that refused to listen to him. He warned them that they were going to be overtaken by the Assyrians. He told them that the Babylonians were going to take them captive, unless they repented and turned to God. If only they would turn to God! There was no special requirement, not rules to follow, to catches or "too-good-to-be-trues". All they had to do was admit they had sinned against God and turn back!
Instead, they continued in their ways. When they heard that the Assyrian army was coming, they collected up all their possessions, all their gold, silver and anything of value and ran to Egypt. After all, maybe they could buy the kings protection with their gold and silver. They were trusting in someone other than their God.
Instead, they continued in their ways. When they heard that the Assyrian army was coming, they collected up all their possessions, all their gold, silver and anything of value and ran to Egypt. After all, maybe they could buy the kings protection with their gold and silver. They were trusting in someone other than their God.
Keep in mind, this is not the only time this had happened. The Old Testament - not just Isaiah - is full of stories of the rebellion of God's people.
And it is full of stories of God's grace.
Isaiah 30:19 says, "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you."
We often have a picture of God that is so human. We think that God is wrathful, spiteful and angry - and if you've seen the movie "Noah" then that probably didn't help your picture of God at all. We think that God does things and allows things because he is angry and wants to make us pay for what we did. But that's not how God thinks. That's not who God is. That's how we think. That's who we are, because we are sinful, wretched people.
In verse 19, Isaiah tells us that as soon as God were to hear the cry of the Israelites, he would answer them. No waiting to see if they were truly repentant. Just an immediate response of grace and love for his people.
So, how can it be that God would have this immediate gracious response for his people? If we think that God is up there being angry with us for what we have done against him, why would he send his only son as our payment for OUR sin?? God never sinned against us. He had nothing to pay for. So why would he respond so quickly and so graciously to us?
John 3:16 is one that everyone knows. It is a verse most anyone can recite, even if they don't really believe it. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life." This verse holds the answer for us. Because he loved us. It wasn't that he couldn't live without us and we were of some benefit to him. If you look back at history, we have only ever brought God sadness and misery - and the death of his own son. We cannot claim that we have anything to bring to God. No sacrifice is great enough, no skill is sufficient enough, no promise is perfect enough.
As as parent now, I see God through such a different lens. I think I see him more clearly than I ever have, and although I will never fully understand God and the things he does, I think that I trust him more. Maybe other parents will understand me when I say it like this:
The other morning Noel was waking up from a nap and was really upset about it. She doesn't wake up crying very often, but this day she was. I went into her room, and she was sitting up in her crib, reaching out her hands to me and she just sobbed and cried, "MA MA!" My heart broke. I lifted her from her crib and tried to console her as we walked back out of her room.
This is the picture of God and his people. What parent, when their child cries out to them in brokenness, can ignore that cry? What parent is hardhearted enough to be numb to that cry?
When I think about Noel getting older, I know that she will make mistakes. I know that she will disobey and try to go her own way at some point. Because she is like me, a sinner. And at some point, she will want to test my advice to see if I'm right or if I'm just trying to keep her from enjoying life. I hope and pray that God doesn't let her wander too far from Him. But we are not perfect, and I do not expect perfect children.
So in that, my hope isn't that she would never wander. That she would never make mistakes. My hope is that when she does, she will simply come back, knowing that the arms of her parents are open wide in love and grace for their daughter. Just like my Heavenly Father has done for me.
How painful would it be as a parent if your toddler fell and hurt himself, and then ran to a complete stranger for comfort? And yet so often, that is exactly what we do to God. We make mistakes, we get hurt or we hurt others and God sees us in our pain and reaches down to open his arms and pick us up...but before we let him, we turn our backs and run somewhere else.
We run to the Egyptian King who might be able to protect us us..
We run to the food in the pantry or the alcohol in the fridge...
We run to the man or woman that might feel to us like comfort...
We run anywhere except into the arms of our loving Father...
We break God's heart daily, constantly, hourly. Yet He is there, ready to respond instantly to us in our pain.
So whatever you run to, if it is not God, scatter it, wreck it, throw it away and tell it to "BE GONE!" because it is empty and useless and will only lead you to death. Instead, run to the arms of your Father in heaven, and listen for the voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it."
