March 13, 2001
"This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.
If only you had paid attention to my commands,
your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
" Isaiah 48:17-18
God guides me through this life, he doesn't want to give me a bunch of rules that I need to live by but he wants to teach me what is best, to guide me in the direction I need to go on this journey he's called me to. These verses give me a glimpse - a picture of God's kindness and gentleness. The image that came up was of a teacher who takes the time to slow down and gets down beside a student for a few minutes to help them with what they are struggling with as opposed to those who teachers who would stand in the front and continually shout of the need to stay on schedule, finish up the work. Our journey's destination is heaven, personally I can't wait to be there... although I have a feeling it's not coming any time real soon for me.. I think there are a few things God wants me to learn first. I'm not always fired up about that... heaven is the goal, it's the only destination on this journey. Everything else is a learning experience designed in part to make us long for heaven. This makes me think of this passage in Romans...
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
[... snip... snip... snip...]
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
Romans 8:18-23
There will come a day when we are freed from all that we struggle with, the challenge is to hang on to the end, the end is heaven and nothing short of that!. There are moments when that feels impossibly difficult - I can only remind myself that feelings are strong but they are not facts. The facts that strengthen me are found in these verses... God is benevolent, kind, loving, caring, compassionate and much much more. He isn't toying with me in this life, he is teaching me and directing me through, sometimes very hard/challenging, circumstances in my life with the constant assurance that he is there and that he wants to fill my life with peace and righteousness as he describes in the above verse in Isaiah. The imagery used helps us get the picture that God wants us to have peace & righteousness in abundance.. picture a river full to the banks or an ocean teeming with constant rolling waves -- God supplies in plenty, in abundance, in boundless measure. This should not be confused with the idea that God will always give us what we want... he knows what is best and is directing, not forcing, us in the direction we should go - the choice is always ours. Later on in verse 21 in Isaiah he assures them he will provide for them just as he did when the Israelites wandered in the desert. Their shoes never wore out (Deut 8:4, 29:5) and God provided the sustenance they needed while in the desert (Ex 19:18, Num 20:11). God did not provide everything they WANTED but he always provided for what the NEEDED. In my flesh I'd prefer that the hard times stop, especially the really hard ones, but God knows where I need to go, what I need to go through and what I can handle. I don't have to choose it, I can choose an easier path for the moment but in the long run I lose because I'm not letting God direct my steps, I'm not trusting that he will provide for me and ultimately I won't experience the overflowing abundance and richness of the blessings that he wants for me.