Today's Scripture Reading (October 25, 2023): Isaiah 64
"After
all this." The words are emotionally charged. After all that I have
suffered. After all of the circumstances and after all the forces that stand
against me. After everything that has happened, is there no moment or outlet
for mercy? Most of us have been there; it is the moment when we reach the end
of our rope. We are still holding on, but the truth is that we are not sure how
much longer we can maintain our grip.
I have been
there a few times in my life—times of desperation where I have felt like
another Job living against insurmountable oppression. But more importantly, I
also admit that I made some unfortunate decisions in those circumstances,
although maybe not the ones that my critics accuse me of making. But I also
know that I am not alone in this experience. It is a condition of living on
this earthly plane. And if we are honest, most of us have been there. Would we
do things differently if we were given a chance? Of course we would, although
we might not admit it publicly.
Israel has
been devastated. The Temple is gone along with the city in which it was built.
The countryside is scarred by the marks inflicted on it by the invading forces.
The people have been expelled, and animals and migrant groups of people have
moved into the land. The prophet understands that this was the result of a
failure of the people to live lives that honored God. But when would God's
anger be satisfied? When would God's punishment end? And maybe the biggest
question is that the invaders of the land had committed greater sins than those
committed by the people of Judah. Would they pay a similar price to the one
that had been paid by the children of Israel?
These were
all good questions. But we know something that the prophet didn't. God was
reshaping the country, and he had plans to punish Babylon for their sins and
send the exiles back home to rebuild their nation. All of this would happen, but
only in God's timing.
I love how
Eugene Peterson translates the beginning of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on
the Mount. Peterson writes, "You're blessed when you're at the end of your
rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule" (Matthew 5:3).
Whether Israel understood it or not, they were standing in the blessing of God.
Here, their Creator could do a reset that would allow them to move into the
future. And that is how we should see our struggles as well. When we find
ourselves at the end of our rope, God is blessing us with a reset. And even amid
our struggles, his promise remains that he will never leave us or forsake us
(Hebrews 13:5).
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Isaiah 65
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