January 21, 2001
How many times have you missed out on something because you didn't ask? Once in school I found out that a teacher of mine would have raised my grade so I would have made the honor roll. He said "Why didn't you ask?" So many times in my life I've missed out on something because I didn't ask "Oh I wish I had known." or "You should have said something" were oft heard phrases. Fortunately for me none of them were very significant losses. This morning I read about a missed opportunity of significant proportions...
Isaiah 22:1-14 records a prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction and in verse 4 God, in his grief, is inconsolable. His love for his people is so great! verses 5-10 outline her destruction.. the enemy lays siege to her walls, vs 8 her defenses are laid bare - she is in her MOST vulnerable state!! vs 9-10 the leaders have already run away, the people made attempts to shore up her defenses but failed in one great area.
"BUT you did not look to the One who made it,
or have regard for the One who planned it long ago." Isaiah 22:11
Instead, they gave into revelry and indulgence (vs 12-13) because they assumed they would die soon. They saw their condition s inevitable and neglected to go to God!! Here is God's response
"Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for," says the Lord, the Lord Almighty. Isaiah 22:14
They lost something significant because they didn't go to God. In their time of greatest need or vulnerability - they neglected to take it to him. In vs 12 it says that God called on them to do just that.. he sent a message, perhaps through a prophet begging them to call on the Lord but they ignored it.
How many things have I lost out on because I didn't take them to God? I don't know but I can remember many times sisters encouraging me to really pray, to take my heart, condition, problem to God but in my stubbornness or pride I didn't do that. I assumed it was hopeless, God wouldn't change his mind and I left it at that. More than my losing out this passage makes it so much clearer how that grieves the heart of God! It reminds me of a favorite passage...
"I love you, O lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:1-2
The combination of these passages helps me to understand that its by taking things to God in my times of need that he becomes my strength, my stronghold. I will learn to see him as the one who delivers me and the one in whom I can rest when I face life's challenges or my vulnerable moments.