LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Isaiah 45:4  “For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.”

We all have different ideas of how things should get done. Not one of us has a corner on the solutions market. The process market is up for grabs as well. Our experience has taught us some lessons we can pass along, but anything we have learned from experience is confined to the scope of our experiences, and that scope is limited.

When committees or teams are formed to initiate programs they can be either productive or problematic, depending on the attitudes of those involved. It only takes one person in a meeting who believes that their solution is the only solution to cause a major problem. The assumption that their experience exceeds the experience of anyone else, and that their wisdom demands recognition puts them near the top of the arrogance scale.

One key element of truth that is ignored by such prideful people is that there is only One who has complete knowledge, experience, and wisdom – Almighty God. And whether we agree with His methods or not, He is in control and He is getting it done. (By “it” I mean His divine will and eternal purpose.)

Let’s put ourselves in Isaiah’s time for a moment. God is revealing to him and then through him to the nation of Israel that there is a time of political unrest coming. Babylon will invade and the people will be taken captive. I’m sure as they heard this news that their minds were spinning with possible solutions. They had been given the one and only solution from God – repent of your sin and submit to God’s control. They didn’t like the crimp that would put in their lifestyle choices, so they rejected that possibility and turned to their human wisdom instead.

• Are there political alliances we can form that will protect us?
• Are there resources we can use to buy our way into peace?
• Are there other gods we can worship that will save us?

I wonder what Isaiah was thinking. His human mind had to consider all sorts of options. Then God gave him His solution – He will anoint the ruler of Persia, Cyrus, who doesn’t acknowledge God as God, to bring restoration to the people.

WHAT!?!

God is going to use a pagan to accomplish His purpose? What a crazy idea. Why is God on this team anyway? We can come up with better solutions than that, can’t we?

No, there are no better solutions than God’s. He will do it!

Not only will God bring about the restoration of His people, but He will show the pagans that He is in control and that He alone is worthy of worship. (Read verses 5-6) God is getting it done.

So next time you are in the human mindset to demonstrate against the political powers that be, or proclaim your dislike for decisions that are being made, stop and evaluate your trust level in God and whether or not you really believe that He is getting it done according to His divine will and eternal purpose. It may not look like the way we would have done it, but we must humbly admit that our way has failed far more than it has succeeded, and God’s way NEVER has.

Pastor John