#TuesdayTruth Isaiah 55:6-13
“6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.
9 ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.’ ”
In selecting this scripture, what initially jumped out at me were the words in verses 8-9. However, in reading and re-reading the section, I am finding there is so much goodness surrounding those two verses, so I included the whole section. In particular, I see that there are three pieces of very good news for us to hold on to this week.
First off, verse 7 tells us that God is ready to extend mercy and “freely pardon” us if we call on Him and turn away from our old self to Him. It does not say that He will begrudgingly forgive us if we beg, ask just right and fulfill a list of tasks to earn it. Quite honestly, we can’t earn it. We can, however, gratefully accept the gift that is offered. This is the first piece of good news.
Next, I think it goes without even saying that our Lord’s thinking, and His ways, are higher than our own- so much so that we do not even understand it! It is worth while to truly consider this. Consider that our way of thinking does not compare to God’s- the image we are given is the height of the heavens above. How far away/above are the heavens? In life, there are often events/interactions/circumstances that seem unfair and do not make sense to us (for example, someone else’s unkind actions or words toward us, or something that happens and seems random or senseless). In those situations, it helps to remember that God (and God alone) has the truly eternal perspective. We are not called to understand everything. We are called to lean wholly on Him (as Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on our own understanding.”) This is the second piece of good news.
Last, we are promised that His words are productive and will achieve what He sets out for them. There are no idle/empty words, that have no purpose, from our Father. We are then told that we “will go out in joy and be led forth in peace…” and, because we know that His words are true, and that they will fulfill what he sets out, we can rest assured in that. This is the third piece of good news and, oh, what a comfort it is.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for free, unearned, forgiveness. Thank you for reminding us that your way of thinking and your ways are higher than ours. Thank you that we do not have to understand, but only to trust and obey. Thank you for the joy and peace that we are promised.
We love you Father, Amen.