Neither Nor

Here’s another promise of deliverance in Isaiah 49:

They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

This is a verse of hope over those who are captive.

God is a compassionate God. God is love.  He desires to set us free from those things that leave us dissatisfied and hungry, the times when we are hot and thirsty.  He came to set us free.

In fact, he doesn’t just want to set us free to roam right back into the mess we came from, but he wants to lead us beside springs of water – water that never runs dry.

Are you hungry or thirsty?  Are you dwindling from the heat of the day?

All we have to do is call on his name and he will save us.  

He then requires us to follow him.  

And be planted by the water that flows to bring life, instead of the river that rages out of its banks to destroy.

The Ruthless

Isaiah 25 says Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere you. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

A long passage to share, but a good one.

Look at the imagery here.  Breath of the ruthless being compared to a driving storm against a wall and the heat of the desert.  That sounds awful, doesn’t it? There are times when we feel like we are up against a wall and waters are rising and we have nowhere to go or swim.  And other times we feel as dry and parched as a wandering lost person in a desert, dying for thirst. 

That’s the kind of world we live in, one where ruthless nations rule. 

But it’s only for a season.  There’s only so much roaring that will be allowed to deafen our ears. 

There’s coming a day when He will be honored and revered as God over the nations and the earth.  The intense heat will be reduced by the shadow of a cloud.  And that cloud will bring the promise of rain that soaks, not destroys.  Rain that satisfies and doesn’t bring fear.

It’s hard to focus on the deliverer when we are in crisis.  It really is.  But we must.  We must believe and trust in our deliverer, because He will come and rescue us and restore us and still the song of the ruthless.

Shelter and Shade

Isaiah 4 says It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

A couple of days ago, we talked about how God made the seasons, the changes.  And we mentioned how some of the seasons we enjoy so much more than others.  I don’t like extreme heat for long periods of time, yet I live in Texas where that happens. 

But here in this verse we are promised a shelter and shade from heat.  And if we don’t care for torrential rain, we are offered a hiding place and a refuge from it.

This is referring to hard times, downpours of troubles, storms and trials…and they will come.

God said in this world we will have trouble.

But one final season of change will occur when all of those troubles will end.

And until then, we can run to him and find shelter.  Observing a storm from inside the warmth and covering of a secure house can be quite fun, knowing we won’t be swept away no matter how high the waters rise.

The area where I live experienced torrential rains and flooding recently and many people lost their homes.  They were not secure and their belongings were swept away.  I cannot imagine that kind of fear and loss.

However, God has promised that though this world brings loss and all sorts of storms, He is our refuge and the One who restores all things and makes all things good once again.

For those who trust in him...

The Appearance

Genesis 18 says, The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.

Abraham had set up his tent, made a place to live, and was sitting in the doorway when God appeared to him.

Oh, and it was the heat of the day.

I love the picture that comes to mind with this verse.  A man is just relaxing in his doorway, it’s a hot afternoon, and his door is open, and there’s a huge tree nearby.  Isn’t that a cool image to imagine?

But then God speaks.  He talks to Abraham right where he lives in the ordinary course of a day, in the middle of the afternoon, when nothing really exciting was going on.

Sometimes, when we’re just living and doing and being, God talks to us and says great things. 

If we are listening.

Seasons

In Genesis God set up the seasons: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

So those of us who long to be rid of change, settle into the “perfect” life, aren’t aware that seasons and change are part of what God set up to be!

Seedtime is maybe not so fun, because it’s hard work planting and digging.  But oh, then comes the harvest.

Cold or heat may not be our choice, because we’d like 72 degrees, but the heat makes us appreciate the coolness of the day, and the cold makes us enjoy the warmth of a fire.

Summer and winter – two opposites in terms of temperatures – and yet both are part of the circle of the year.

Day and night – a time to be busy and a time to rest – all part of the change from light to dark and then back to light again.

I actually love the change of seasons, except I wish the seasons where l live were a little more pronounced,  But changes in life aren’t near as welcome…unless they’re good ones that suit me!

If God set up the seasons, which he did, then we can trust that if we are suffering in one season, another one is coming where the sun is more visible and the rain is not so hard…and that he is in control of the changes.

And that makes them good.

With Him

Last of Joshua 6:

So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

Joshua was the leader of that incredible march we’ve been writing about the past few days.  Not only did he convey God’s unusual directions, he had to be the one to lead the people to follow.  Getting them to follow and obey must have been quite a feat for him.

I’m curious what he did to obtain such a following of obedience.  

People can see right through leaders who are in a quest for their own agenda.

Joshua wasn’t like this.  At every turn, he had faith in God and his word and his promises.  I think the people saw that and they responded to it.

People will respond when we humble ourselves and obey the Lord out of love and honor for Him. 

And when the victory comes, it will be evident that the “Lord was with” us, just like he was with Joshua.

Are you leading a family, a group, your own life, or others?  Fall in love and in step with God and his word and his unusual ways, and embrace them.

And when the victories come, you won’t need to exalt yourself.  Your name may become well-known, but it will be due to you first giving honor to His name.

Blessed be the God that we serve that leads us into enemy camps and causes us to take huge victories in our lives.

Nothing is impossible for Him.  When we believe and obey.

Straight In

Joshua 6 cont’d:

When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord…

Right before the walls fell, the people were told to devote this spoil, this city, to the Lord.  They couldn’t just obey, walk, and see the walls collapse and go on their own way.  No, they had to devote their win to the Lord.

So they shouted, and they shouted loudly.

The walls fell; in fact, they collapsed into the ground!

The people went in and conquered, experiencing the answer – the promise.

And then…

They devoted the city to the Lord.

Sometimes…we obey, we walk, we grow weary, we almost stop, but we barely hang on…and the answer comes.

And we forget to devote our success to the Lord.

What a cool, complete, circle of hearing God’s word, obeying it even when it seems silly and laborious, and then giving everything back to Him.

That’s a walk and a march worth taking.