Scripture: Isaiah 19:22 (ESV)
Striking & Healing
"And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them."
Egypt was a "green isle" amongst a sea of sand. They had a lot to put their hope in. The Nile River provided a fishing economy, while the ground was fertile giving vegetation, flax, and cotton. Egypt had it made, and they were secure or so they thought. Here Isaiah prophesies how the Lord will strike Egypt; drying up The Nile, and knocking their flimsy pillars from under their feet. All they hoped in was gone. But some would return to the Lord, and He would listen and bring them to a much better place than they were.
In my life, there are plenty of things I could set up as a pillar in which I could place my hope. I could hope in my career, or my bank account, or my friends and family, which are not bad things to have. But what if they all fell away? I would have nothing, no where to go. Maybe I would blame God for allowing them to be taken away. Or would I realize that He can be my hope when all else fails? I should not place my hope in anything less than God Himself, for all the other pillars are as sturdy as a Teeter-totter.
So maybe you feel God is striking you, but what he really wants to do is heal you. If you lost a relationship, maybe you put too much dependency in a person. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, maybe God wants you to trust in His provision alone. I don't know the circumstances that each person faces, but I do know this for sure. If I trust in God, He won't be shaken, like all the other flimsy pillars, and He will bring healing in my life.
"Lord Jesus, please help me to place my hope in You alone, and to step down from these unstable pillars in my life. Thank You that You are a rock in hard times, and for the healing that You give. Amen."
No comments:
Post a Comment