Shatter the Yoke (Isaiah 10)

Isaiah 10:27 On that day, His burden shall be taken from your shoulder, and his yoke shattered from your neck. 

God will have let Assyria bring their destruction upon Israel, but God calls the Israelites to not fear, for it will only be a brief moment. God will allow their suffering for a brief moment (God’s time and our time are two different things of course, and a moment for him could be much longer for us) before he destroys them. And then God will take the burden from his people. 

God allowed his people to struggle because as a nation, they sinned. Many people question God’s motives even in present times, asking why God would allow suffering. Through suffering, we are healed. And perhaps, through our suffering, others may be healed. We have all heard “there is a greater purpose,” and most of the time we will not understand it. But God performs miracles through people’s sufferings. Sometimes it takes our suffering for us to truly empty ourselves and open ourselves to God. We must persevere through suffering, knowing the whole time God is with us and hasn’t left us. 

It is so easy to think our sufferings are worse than other people’s. When I am struggling, I try to remember the Passion of Christ. The journey he endured from conviction to crucifixion just to free me of my sins. He dies for me to take that yoke off my neck. He suffered lashes and thorns shoved on him, public humiliation and nails in his hands. I try to visualize (and having watched “The Passion” I have vivid images) his suffering, and how he did indeed take it all on for others. It does help me get through my now seemingly smaller burden.

We can use our suffering to show God’s work to others, and perhaps help them come back to God. Let God take your burden. Lay them at Jesus’s feet. He himself calls us in Matthew 11:28 “come to me, all you who labor and burdened, and I will give you rest.’’ Remember which side of heaven we are on. It’s not meant to be all sunshine and rainbows, even for those whose hearts are devoted to God. He loves you and wants to free you. Bring him your sorrows and allow him to shatter your yoke. 

The Light (Isaiah 9)

 Isaiah 9:1-2* The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing...

I just absolutely love seeing words in the Old Testament and finding the prophecies come to life in the New Testament. In Matthew 4:13-16, after learning that John was arrested, Jesus went to live in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, which in Isaiah 8* were the first lands God degraded. So these were to be the first lands God restored, and we see Isaiah tell us the people who walked in darkness (because they had turned away from God) have seen a great light (restoration after destruction). In Matthew, we understand that Jesus is the great light! As he was the restoration for the people of Zebulun and Naphtali first, he is the restoration for all those who were in darkness. 

Isaiah 9 goes on to prophesy a child is to be born, and over his kingdom he will judge and give justice now and forever. At the end of the section in Matthew 4:17, Jesus tells the people “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” We know Jesus was that child, born to become our savior. To rule from heaven and give swift justice. 

Jesus is our light. Darkness is no more than the absence of light. If you are stuck in a place of darkness, he can be your way out. He can be your restoration. This is the light you want to seek and follow.

*My Bible is the New American Bible St. Joseph Edition, and I realize that it had chapter 8 and 9 numbered differently than other versions. But it is still all the same words and meaning, regardless of what the verses are numbered. 

My sanctuary (Isaiah 8)

Isaiah 8:10 Form a plan, and it shall be thwarted; make a resolve and it shall not be carried out, for “With us is God.”

Isaiah 8:13-14 (KJV) Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And he shall be for you a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and a for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

It is way to easy to let fear creep into our minds, to begin to worry about something. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by something else that is dangerous. The difference in fear and worry is that fear is against something concrete. Like I fear clowns, the presence of the actual clown person in a room. Worrying is an anxiety or unease about something that we cannot control. To relate my fear versus worry, I cannot spend my time worrying that a clown may appear at a costume party, because I have no control over that. I give that worry to God. Same with spiders. I can’t continue having anxiety about going into our basement dark area because I am afraid spiders are there. I just have to put my faith in God that even if there are, he will take care of me. 

Israel allowed fear to creep unto them. They were fearful of their enemies, and allowed that fear to make them turn to other nations for alliances instead of turning to God. The thing is, the enemies were going to attack regardless. That plan was already put into motion by God. If the Israelites had turned to God though, they wouldn’t have suffered through the impending attack and what it would cause for future leadership. 

These verses caught my attention today because with moving, there is worry. I am constantly finding new things to give to God, the biggest being selling our home here and finding another one there. And the fact that we cannot have two mortgages at once, so we won’t be able to buy unless we sell. That is a big worry, but after I read these verses, again I am pulled to see that unless I fear God, unless I make him my sanctuary, all my plans may become thwarted. I need to find rest and comfort in him. My mother always said, “‘if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.” I need to allow God’s plan to take form and trust in it. This will not be easy as humans have a deep desire for control. Please pray with me friends that I can’t let go of the control and trust in God, so that all the measures will fall into place at the right time. 

Stand Firm (Isaiah 7)

 Isaiah 7:4 ...Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail you before the two stumps of smoldering brands...

Isaiah 7:9b Unless your faith is firm, you shall not be firm

King Ahaz was not a good king to start with. He worshipped other gods and even sacrificed his son to one. Now Ahaz’s enemies were coming to take over.  God has sent Isaiah out to talk with Ahaz, telling Ahaz not to be afraid of the enemies, to put his trust in God instead of other nations. He wants Ahaz to listen to him (God) and basically quit whining about the trouble he (Ahaz) is in. Ahaz saw his enemies coming to attack, and God saw “smoldering brands,” meaning nothing more than the end of a fire. Nothing would happen if Ahaz trusted in God, the smoke would go away. 

Just as Ahaz didn’t see the situation he came upon the way that God sees it, we too in life can’t see the bigger picture. We see obstacles in our path as big fires that prevent us from something. But to God, they are just mere piles of smoke, that if we endure and are firm in our faith, the smoke will billow out soon. We can never know how long is “soon,” and sometimes it does get tiresome waiting for the smoke to blow out, but if we are not firm in our faith, trusting that God is in control and let him take the lead, we will not be firm against whatever comes in our path. 

Friends, there will be lots of fires in our life. Lots of obstacles to overcome, lots of sin to avoid. Surround yourself with people who are also God-centered, and you will have a prayer army to help you to remember to focus your heart on God. 

Send me (Isaiah 6)

 Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

God has done many great things for his people. The greatest being sending our Lord Jesus Christ to the earth,  born as a baby, to live and die for our sins. But somehow, the message has been lost. People continue to turn to worldly things in their search for fulfillment. So God needs s messenger, someone that can reach more people. God wants to send someone who is willing, which is why he asks the question and doesn’t just demand someone. He wants us to hear the call in our heart and respond to him openly.

Isaiah wasn’t a sinless saint responding to God’s call. He himself admits that he has unclean lips, which means he may have used them to speak ill, speak lies, spread contempt, spread deception, amongst other ways our lips cause us to be sinners. He admitted he was a sinner, yet he was still willing to open his heart to God and answer his call. God is calling us to go and bring his Word to others. It is easy to think, ‘I am too busy now,’ ‘Why would he want me?’ ‘There are so many others already,’ ‘Maybe when I find more time,’ etc. The time is now. The world needs us now. You can answer God’s call without dropping all that you have and going across the world to speak to other countries. You can answer his call right in your own town, in your workplace, in your home. Who do you know that needs to hear God’s word today? Who can you bring the light to? Ask God to send you. 

Vineyards (Isaiah 5)

 Isaiah 5:4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?

As a person who gardens, I can visualize this part of the chapter. God is the farmer, the vineyard owner. He cleared his land and planted a vineyard, put all his time and effort, all his love into this vineyard. And yet, it produced wild grapes. Wild grapes in his vineyard could be beautiful, but they may be bitter or even poisonous. They represent those people who either act like they follow God on the outside, but on the inside, they are full of planned sin. Sin that they willingly commit. Or those with false religion and the unfaithful. Their actions cause others to sin. They are like a wild weed, choking out others trying to grow in the Lord’s word. All the work God had done to prepare his vineyard produced nothing of value. It was as if he hadn’t done any preparations at all. 

Verse 4 asks what else could have been done? Had he forgotten a step in preparing the vineyard? No. God did everything right in his planting, and still yet the wild grapes grew. If the wild grapes are man, and God did all he could, then the fault of man turning sour is on man. God made us all with free will. He gave us consciousness to know right from wrong. The only way to have made a perfect vineyard I which everyone did exactly as they should at all times would be for God to have made us robots that he could control. 

Jesus came to the earth to be born, grow, teach and die on a cross for us. What more could he have done to get our attention? He endured so much to show us God’s love for us remains, yet we still turn away. People still choose to sin, they choose not to believe. If we want to be part of a successful vineyard, if we don’t want to face the wrath of the unhappy owner as in verses 5-7, we need to understand that it is our free will to accept the grace God is offering, and to turn from sin.  We have to choose to become fruitful in his word, and can do that by leading the righteous path for others to follow. We can help tend the vineyard, and use the grace given to us by God to show others how loving and forgiving God is. We cannot just accept grace and hold it to ourselves, allowing other people to just wither. Yes the vineyard is all metaphorical, but use the image to see yourself in God’s plan. How can you help God’s vineyard grow?

Shelter from the storm (Isaiah 4)

 Isaiah 4:6 For over all, his glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of the day, refuge and cover from storm and rain. 

There are so many things in the world that daily get in our way. It is important to remember that God never promised our life on earth would be all sunshine and rainbows (that’s what heaven will be). All people, good and bad, will have obstacles in their path that they will have to overcome. And sometimes, it may feel that someone’s obstacles are bigger than others or they seem to keep piling up. We all will suffer many inconveniences, have to carry many burdens. Think of God’s love like an umbrella. As we walk through the rain, our umbrella is like our relationship with God. Even though we have to across the crowded parking lot in the pouring rain, it is open and covers us. Now, having this umbrella doesn’t mean you won’t get wet every once in a while. Just as we remind ourselves to fix our umbrella when it has a hole, or hold it better to cover us better, or even get a new one when it has broken, we also have to fix our relationship with God sometimes. We can fix the holes by going to confession and fully accepting God again into our lives. 

Those who do not have God suffer through hard times and come out overwhelmed and destroyed. It is hard to those who do not have God to hear that they can trust in God during their hard times. They might think that God is against them. But he is not. He is right there with them, wanting to offer them shelter if they would just open up to him. They have an umbrella and when they open it, is it full of holes. Or they refuse to use it, or don’t even have one. Why go through life without fixing those holes or allowing oneself to become drenched each time it rains? Why not seek the one thing that offers comfort to complete the tasks you were assigned to do?

What we need to remember is those who trust in the Lord have refuge. In the midst of all the things being thrown at us in this world, we can turn to God for shelter. We still have to endure the pains and sufferings of this world, but we have God with us to comfort us through those troublesome times. Knowing that we are called to endure just as Jesus did, and through our enduring, God’s light will shine upon and through us.  It is hard for some people to truly understand we are of this world for a short time. And those trials we face are temporary. We are to strive for our future home, working through all the trials with faith. Faith that there is something to be learned in every instance. Faith that our trials may actually be for someone else’s benefit, even when we don’t understand it. Faith that God is in control and is cleansing us for our eternal home. Faith that those who continue pushing through all the wreckage of this world will have shelter from the storm. 

Remain Strong (Isaiah 3)

 In chapter 3, Isaiah is trying to show them what will become of Judah if they continue in their godless ways. There would be famine, desperation, food shortages, and there wouldn’t be adequate leaders to guide them. Verse 4 in several versions has “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.” One way God can show judgement to the nation is by giving them rulers who have no idea what they are doing. This can cause a breakdown in society, in morals and ethics, in manners and learned behaviors. Isaiah predicts if their ways continue, children would start being “bold toward their elder,” because they have no rules to tell them otherwise. 

Isaiah says Judah is falling because of its ways, because of the way they choose to speak and act are against the ways that God has taught them. They no longer hide their sin, but commit it as openly as Sodom. God promises those people will have their judgement, and they will suffer his wrath because of their choices. 

Isaiah 3:10 reminds us that those who choose to follow God will be fine when the world comes to judgement: Happy the just, for it will be well with them, the fruit of their works they will eat. Even in judgement, God will bless his people. 

Though this one verse can bring some comfort in the whole doom and gloom of the chapter, we should not let ourselves fall into pride because we follow God. We must not let ourselves fall asleep thinking we are safe, because the evils are all around ready to try to sneak into our lives. To try to pull us away from our light. The rest of the chapter shows that those who are doing evil think they are just! They are fooled into thinking that their sins are ok. And they coerce others into following their lead. We must always be awake in the word, ready to stand firm against the world. We must honor God with our whole hearts, and not be caught up with how much earthly things we have. God can so quickly take everything away. Remember dear friends, it doesn’t matter who is leading what office. The true leader, our true king, is God alone. 

Walk in the light (Isaiah 2)

 Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Chapter 2 begins with bringing a wonderful image to mind: upon the highest mountain shall sit the Lord’s house, and every nation will head towards it to be together in the Lord’s presence. And no nation shall “raise a sword against another (v4)” and it will be peaceful. How wonderful would that be? It definitely seems like something only in a dream. 

He is calling us to do that now, though. He tells us to come. He is calling us to walk in his light. He wants us to get our lives in order, and follow God’s ways. We need to live our lives according to his commandments. Not next week, not tomorrow, but today. Today we need to examine ourselves to see what is pulling us from his light. What things or situations to we need to remove ourselves from, what people do we need to remove from our lives? What fears do we need to let go of? What mistakes do we need to ask forgiveness for?

There is nothing that is greater than light. Darkness is only the absence of light. Do not let the darkness shame you or guilt you into thinking you are not worthy of his light. You (and I ) have to right to enjoy walking in his light beginning right now. Let’s enjoy his blessings. 

White as snow (Isaiah 1)

 Timelines can get tricky. Let’s look at Isaiah himself before we jump in. Isaiah ministered from around 740-680 B.C. By the time Isaiah came around, other prophets we know had completed their missions (Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Amos). By this time, the Israelites had been in the Promised Land 700 years, had gone through the period of judges, and had experiences a number of good and terrible kings. Saul, David, and Solomon had already reigned and died, and the split of Israel into two nations had already occurred. The period of time of Isaiah’s ministry is taking place at the time of 2 Kings 15-21 and 2 Chronicles 26-33. 

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord; Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.

Chapter 1 is focusing on the sins of Israel, that she as a whole nation has forgotten God. The good works of the few (if there were any) were hidden by the viciousness and sinfulness of the many. Isaiah was trying to warn the nation to come clean, turn from their sins, and ask for forgiveness before it was too late. 

 In ourselves, when we sin, it can overshadow the good in our lives. Think of a public speech. No matter how good it is, how many good things are in the speech, if there is one mistake, that is what is going to be heard. The one mistake, the one flaw, will overshadow the entire goodness of the speech. Same with people, no matter how good, if there is one stumble, that is what is seen. A stain. When we sin, we stain ourselves in God’s eyes. And we all know stains are hard to remove.

But there is hope. With God, we can have our sins erased. In the verse above, our sins are related to a deep red stain. There is nothing said about how to be cleansed in this chapter, but we know that through Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can become pure like the new snow again. We can’t do it ourselves. No amount of work of mercy or charity or cleaning will take it away. Only through the works of Jesus. By confessing, owning it, and obtaining God’s grace can we be made white. And that goes for EVERYONE. It doesn’t matter what has been done. Your sins can be forgiven! My sins can be forgiven! God wants to forgive us. He wants to restore the bond between himself and us. He wants us to be close to him. We need to want it too. 

A New Chapter

Moving is never easy. Whether you move across town, to a new city, a new state, or across the world, there so are many things on a list to be done. We are working on a list for us. Our little family will be moving this summer to Hattiesburg, MS. This news is a long time coming, as we have known for a little bit now. Due to contract requirements, we were unable to say until the time was right. 

So now our checklist begins. We have a realtor, so now we being decluttering the house. Why are there so many things!! Next is to get applications for school. Then look at houses in Hattiesburg. Pack and unpack are the simplest of items for moving. I have to make a list for all the contacts to disconnect here and find out where to connect there. Changing banks is always fun. New address labels and forwarding mail. New drivers license. And the list continues...

Hattiesburg, for those who don’t know, is located in southern Mississippi. Not quite on the coast, but only about 1.5 drive north from the beaches at Gulfport. This will put us about 4 hours from our family who all live in the Lafayette, LA, area. We are currently about 13 hour drive from family, which takes the kids and I two days and a hotel stop if I am driving by myself.  Hattiesburg is 2 hours from New Orleans and 3.5 hours from Birmingham, where my favorite cousin (and Hunter’s godmother) lives. There are so many adventures to come!

This new move will also bring new things to worry about. In Kansas, we worry about tornados. In the south, they worry about hurricanes. In Mississippi, they have both. Growing up in south Louisiana, and having my childhood home flooded and taken away by Hurricane Rita, I know all too well about them and their magnificent capacities. But God’s magnificence is greater. And I know he has put us on this journey for a reason. 

I am glad to be closer to home and family. But my heart hurts for having to leave. This will be the 5th time since college that I have left a city for another 3+ hours away. It never gets easier.  I have such a love for Manhattan and my church’s Thom’s Moms group. This group has helped me grow so much in my faith. I am nearly 180° different than what I was when we got here. And I am so thankful for God choosing Manhattan and each of my friends for this part of our life. So now I will take what I have been blessed with and bring it to a new city and share it with new people. I am an optimistic person by nature, and I am holding on to all the good that has come for our family and all the good that is to come. I know all things have been given by God, and I praise him daily for each blessing. I ask for prayers as we get through our lists, that God continues to open the doors for this journey, and there are no obstacles in the way.