WHO HAS DONE THIS?

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In Christ, Mark

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

“Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment.”

“Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before. Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning?”

“I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.”

Isaiah 41:1-4

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

Think about anything good that has happened in your life or in the life of someone else.

Maybe you or someone you know has been healed from an affliction or injury of some kind.

Maybe you or someone you know went through a particularly difficult time finding a job only to have that issue resolved through being hired.

Maybe you or someone you know has suffered through a relationship problem with someone and then experienced the joy of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Maybe you or someone you know have gone through financially hard times and were able to get back on your feet again.

Maybe you or someone you know have struggled with any number of addictions and were able to overcome them to return to a life of normalcy and freedom from the temptations that plagued you.

There are certainly enough situations to go on and on and on but you get the point. I think we all can look back and think of some struggle we went through and found our way through to reach better days.

OK, so when this has happened, who did you credit?

Was it your own ingenuity or the ingenuity of another person?

Was it by your ability or the ability of another person?

Was it by your strength and power or the strength and power of another person?

Was it by your own wisdom or the wise direction and counsel of another person?

Or, did you just chalk it up to good luck or fortune, like somehow a raffle ticket was selected or a coin was flipped in life and you became the winner?

Who or what was the root cause of you emerging from misfortune or sickness or conflict or difficulty?

Well, as we see in the opening verses of Isaiah 41, there is only one real answer to the question, “Who has done this?” (with “this” being whatever you or someone you know have gone through) Look again at these verses:

“Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment.”

“Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before. Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning?”

“I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.”  Isaiah 41:1-4

The audience here is the Israelites and their deliverance from God’s judgment, namely the 70 year exile to Babylon. The Babylonians had been overthrown by the Persians and if you study that transition, you will see how God was moving through the new Persian leadership (the king) in order to pave the way for the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the holy city, which they did, under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah (great accounts of this can be found in reading through these two wonderful books).

Indeed, God was moving through the lives of His people more than 2,000 years ago, rescuing them from their oppressive captivity and setting things in place for them to be released. No one did this but the Lord God Almighty. No one.

We know this because He told us so. God Himself answered His own question regarding “Who has done this?” by saying:

“I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.”

You see, the Lord was the answer then and He is still the only right answer today.

Go back to our items at the beginning.

Who brought you or someone you know from sickness or injury back to full health?

God would answer, “It was ‘I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.’”

Who was in the middle of you or someone you know finding a job?

God would answer, “It was ‘I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.’”

Who ordained reconciliation and forgiveness into a broken relationship that you or someone you know may have experienced?

God would answer, “It was ‘I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.’”

Who helped you or someone you know straighten out your finances?

God would answer, “It was ‘I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.’”

Who broke the bondage of addiction that you or someone you know were under?

God would answer, “It was ‘I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.’”

Finally, one bonus question: Who has saved you or someone you know from your sins, offering you eternal life instead of death?

Of course, God would answer, “It was ‘I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am He.’”

Friends, when good things are happening in our lives, we need not look any further than the Lord to offer up our thanksgiving and praise. For every good and perfect gift that we receive in life comes from no other source than the God who loves us so very much and lavishes His blessings upon us when we need them most (James 1:17).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com