Thank the Lord because He is good. His love continues forever. That is what those whom the Lord has saved should say. He has saved them from the enemy and has gathered them from other lands, from east and west, north and south.
Some people had wandered in the desert lands. They found no city in which to live. They were hungry and thirsty, and they were discouraged. In their misery they cried out to the Lord, and He saved them from their troubles. He led them on a straight road to a city where they could live. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His love and for the miracles He does for people. He satisfies the thirsty and fills up the hungry. (Verses 1- 9)
This week found me once more on the carpet in my bedroom desperately crying out to God to save me from a deserved doom. I'd done something inadvertently dumb. It could've been costly to me. I needed Him to protect me from my own shortsightedness. My stomach was in knots. I paced some. Prayed some more. But I really had to just wait to see how it all turned out. So far, I'm good. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. And you can't imagine how thankful I am! I have no problem, in fact it gives me pure joy, to say with the psalmist, "Thank the Lord because He is good! His love continues forever!" The entire psalm is about how God gets us out of trouble...usually circumstances we get ourselves into in the first place.
Wandering is first. This one speaks to many of us right now. Trying to find where He wants us to go. What He wants us to do. Taking the fork in the road and feeling like it's the wrong direction. And finding no city in which to live. No answer to "What am I supposed to be doing?" And in the wilderness of the trek toward purpose, we are hungry and thirsty. Discouraged about ever finding the right road to take. Some of us sit down and wait beside the road. Some of us keep pressing forward with our own sense of direction. Some of us turn back. But there must be a straight road out there where God wants our feet to travel. And, you know what, we might be on it at just the time we think we are lost. Because our God is a lamp unto our feet instead of a floodlight down our path, we keep going forward on the promises that He will lead us. That's the message for those of us who are looking for guidance. Who want His leadership. He is your teacher. He will not continue to hide from you, but you will see your Teacher with your own eyes. If you go the wrong way--to the right or to the left--you will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the right way. You should go this way." (Isaiah 30)
But there is a different kind of wandering we fall prey to. It's more like straying. We let go the Hand of our Father at the carnival that is this world and find ourselves, like Pinocchio, enthralled with all the booths beckoning us with the thrills of the bizarre or the chance of great riches at the arcade games. It's not until it all goes dark, all the twinkling lights go off, that we realize the fair was a façade and we are in hell. Like looking at Vegas in the daylight. Just a bunch of gaudy buildings in the desert. What then? Does our God even care about us? After all, we let go. Chose the gaudy over our God. This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel says: "If you come back to Me and trust Me, you will be saved. If you will be calm and trust Me, you will be strong (Isaiah 30)." But if wandering has gotten into our blood, we wait in the dark for the next thrill. For the evanescence of the world's electric light bulbs to lure us once again into its delights. The steady walk with God can't compare with the drama of deceit. Seems boring in comparison to the highs of the bazaar. Isaiah 30 continues this way: "But you don't want to do that. You say, 'No, we need horses to run away on.' So, you will run away on horses. You say, 'We will ride away on fast horses.' So those who chase you will be fast. One enemy will make threats, and a thousand of your men will run away. Five enemies will make threats, and all of you will run from them. You will be left alone like a flagpole on a hilltop, like a banner on a hill." The Lord wants to show His mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you. The Lord is a fair God, and everyone who waits for his help will be happy.
Discouragement makes us wander away from the hand of our Father. Add pain to that. We need comfort and encouragement. And so in our walking along with our faithful, steady God, when the sidewalk is narrow and the path ahead dim, we stick out a passing hand to something more exciting. The fix for now. The distraction wastes time. Truncates progress. As God waits for us to come back and trust Him again. The other things will fail us. I'm old enough to know that now. I've run on a fast horse to get what I wanted. And found myself being chased by the demons who lured me in. Running as fast as my spiritual (and sometimes physical) feet could carry me back to my Father. And just like the father in Jesus's story of the wayward son, my God was waiting for me with open arms. He cleaned me up and took my hand again. I held on much more tightly afterward. No wander lust for this world left. No excitement at the carnival. Only a desire to navigate its confusing, deadly hawkers and amusements with a firm grip on He Who chose to rise up from His throne to run and comfort me.
Some people had wandered in the desert lands. They found no city in which to live. They were hungry and thirsty, and they were discouraged. In their misery they cried out to the Lord, and He saved them from their troubles. He led them on a straight road to a city where they could live. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His love and for the miracles He does for people. He satisfies the thirsty and fills up the hungry. (Verses 1- 9)
This week found me once more on the carpet in my bedroom desperately crying out to God to save me from a deserved doom. I'd done something inadvertently dumb. It could've been costly to me. I needed Him to protect me from my own shortsightedness. My stomach was in knots. I paced some. Prayed some more. But I really had to just wait to see how it all turned out. So far, I'm good. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. And you can't imagine how thankful I am! I have no problem, in fact it gives me pure joy, to say with the psalmist, "Thank the Lord because He is good! His love continues forever!" The entire psalm is about how God gets us out of trouble...usually circumstances we get ourselves into in the first place.
Wandering is first. This one speaks to many of us right now. Trying to find where He wants us to go. What He wants us to do. Taking the fork in the road and feeling like it's the wrong direction. And finding no city in which to live. No answer to "What am I supposed to be doing?" And in the wilderness of the trek toward purpose, we are hungry and thirsty. Discouraged about ever finding the right road to take. Some of us sit down and wait beside the road. Some of us keep pressing forward with our own sense of direction. Some of us turn back. But there must be a straight road out there where God wants our feet to travel. And, you know what, we might be on it at just the time we think we are lost. Because our God is a lamp unto our feet instead of a floodlight down our path, we keep going forward on the promises that He will lead us. That's the message for those of us who are looking for guidance. Who want His leadership. He is your teacher. He will not continue to hide from you, but you will see your Teacher with your own eyes. If you go the wrong way--to the right or to the left--you will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the right way. You should go this way." (Isaiah 30)
But there is a different kind of wandering we fall prey to. It's more like straying. We let go the Hand of our Father at the carnival that is this world and find ourselves, like Pinocchio, enthralled with all the booths beckoning us with the thrills of the bizarre or the chance of great riches at the arcade games. It's not until it all goes dark, all the twinkling lights go off, that we realize the fair was a façade and we are in hell. Like looking at Vegas in the daylight. Just a bunch of gaudy buildings in the desert. What then? Does our God even care about us? After all, we let go. Chose the gaudy over our God. This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel says: "If you come back to Me and trust Me, you will be saved. If you will be calm and trust Me, you will be strong (Isaiah 30)." But if wandering has gotten into our blood, we wait in the dark for the next thrill. For the evanescence of the world's electric light bulbs to lure us once again into its delights. The steady walk with God can't compare with the drama of deceit. Seems boring in comparison to the highs of the bazaar. Isaiah 30 continues this way: "But you don't want to do that. You say, 'No, we need horses to run away on.' So, you will run away on horses. You say, 'We will ride away on fast horses.' So those who chase you will be fast. One enemy will make threats, and a thousand of your men will run away. Five enemies will make threats, and all of you will run from them. You will be left alone like a flagpole on a hilltop, like a banner on a hill." The Lord wants to show His mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you. The Lord is a fair God, and everyone who waits for his help will be happy.
Discouragement makes us wander away from the hand of our Father. Add pain to that. We need comfort and encouragement. And so in our walking along with our faithful, steady God, when the sidewalk is narrow and the path ahead dim, we stick out a passing hand to something more exciting. The fix for now. The distraction wastes time. Truncates progress. As God waits for us to come back and trust Him again. The other things will fail us. I'm old enough to know that now. I've run on a fast horse to get what I wanted. And found myself being chased by the demons who lured me in. Running as fast as my spiritual (and sometimes physical) feet could carry me back to my Father. And just like the father in Jesus's story of the wayward son, my God was waiting for me with open arms. He cleaned me up and took my hand again. I held on much more tightly afterward. No wander lust for this world left. No excitement at the carnival. Only a desire to navigate its confusing, deadly hawkers and amusements with a firm grip on He Who chose to rise up from His throne to run and comfort me.
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