THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS (PART 17)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together.”

“Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me.”

Isaiah 45:1a, 20-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Book of Isaiah is an amazing book of prophecy as it broadly covers so much of what is going to happen to the people of Israel. From the demise of Judah and Jerusalem at the hands of Assyria and Babylon to the seventy year exile to the end of that exile with the coming of the Persians and the release brought by their King Cyrus to the coming Messiah and Savior of the world, you get a very broad brush stroke of what is to come for God’s chosen nation in the short and long term.

The Lord foretold what was to come through the messengers He ordained and everything He said would come to be did come to be. This is the Lord we serve, the Lord of the past, present, and future. No one holds everything in their hands except for Him.

And yet, we spend a lot of time worrying about our futures, about moments in time that are not yet to be.

We do this, right?

I don’t know how many people I have ministered to through the years that were completely consumed by their anxieties over the unknown, when we know that life in its most basic form is uncertain. We get worked up over what we think might happen when there is no possible way we really know what will occur.

For example, I had the opportunity to talk to a woman who was going through problems in her marriage. She was coming home on a Navy ship from deployment and was convinced that her relationship was going to be over once she returned. I listened carefully to what she was saying and it was as if the future was already known even when the truth was that it wasn’t. Given this, I asked her if she had ever considered that maybe her husband would want to reconcile their differences and stay together. In other words, giving credence to the thought that there could be a positive outcome instead of believing the worse could happen.

It’s just as easy, isn’t it?

You see, Satan has a way of getting us to expect the worst, to get us consumed with fear or worry or stress or anxiety over the adverse possibilities embedded in our life circumstances. He’s very good at it and we typically fall into his trap, becoming shackled and trapped in the pit of despair and hopelessness. Our world becomes strapped to the fret over what is yet to be.

Maybe you’ve been there.

So, how do we break free from this? How do we liberate ourselves from the dread and trepidation of uncertainty?

Let’s look at our scripture for today and let the Lord tell us the answer:

Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together.”

“Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me.” Isaiah 45:20-21

Did you hear what the Lord is saying to us today?

“I am God, a righteous Savior and there is none but Me. Do not place your faith in yourself or anyone else, only ignorant people do that. Instead, trust in Me, the One who made you, nurtured you, and brought you to this place in time. Believe in Me and know I am with you and for you. There is nothing beyond the works of My hands so consider the impossible as possible, regard the improbable as probable, and the implausible as plausible.”

Friends, the Lord has given us these promises and assurances for a reason. He understands the challenges we come up against in life and knows our enemy Satan better than we do. The good news for us is that the Lord has already found victory over him, a victory that will never end. And in Him, we are victorious people.

So what are we worried about? Why are we afraid? How can we be anxious over anything?

We have God and there is no god who is His rival. There is nothing beyond the works of His hands.

Trust Him, place your life and its burdens in His care, and find a peace that is beyond comprehension (Philippians 4:6-7).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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