The
Lord Longs To Be Gracious To You
“Woe
to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry
out plans that are not mine,
forming
an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
who go down to
Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your
shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
Though
they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have
arrived in Hanes,
everyone
will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither
help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.”
Isaiah 30: 1-5
Yet
the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you
compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
People
of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be
when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Isaiah 30:18-19
Being
frightened is a fun game until the day when a child experiences a real scare.
Then it is no laughing matter. The first real scare often involves separation
from a parent. The child wanders away innocently, moving from one attraction to
another. But as soon as the child realizes they are lost, they panic and let
out a loud cry of alarm. The parent immediately comes running to reassure the
child that they are not alone.
As
we get older, some of us take bigger risks. We may wander from the One who
loves and cares for us. Recognizing we are in danger, we panic. Our call for
help does not require sophisticated words or a well-reasoned defense. Just a desperate cry.
Like
a loving parent, God responds quickly for He longs to have us live in the
protection of His love where we need never be afraid.
Trusting God’s faithfulness helps dispel our
fearfulness.
Our
Daily Bread – March6, 2014