Tag: trust

Who is this Good Shepherd?

Luke 10, John 10:22-42

Devotion by Jerry Wierwille (New York)

John 10:22-42 opens with the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, where Jesus walks in Solomon’s porch and faces many direct questions about his identity. The passage is filled with challenges to expected norms, the importance of faith, and the safety and strength of the Shepherd’s hand.

The Challenge of Faith

As Jesus walks through the Temple, a group gathers around him, pressing in on him with questions that reveals both their curiosity but also their skepticism: “How long will you keep our souls in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). Jesus responds by saying, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep” (John 10:25-26).

Here, Jesus points out that belief is not simply a matter of intellectual assent or witnessing miracles. True belief is about recognizing the Shepherd’s voice and responding in trust. The works of Jesus—his miracles, his teachings, his ministry—are clear evidence of his mission and that he is from God. Yet, as Jesus notes, only those who are truly his “sheep” respond to him in faith. This situation echoes a recurring theme in Scripture: the spiritual life of faith is not about seeing the miraculous but about having a heart that is receptive to the things of God.

Reflect: Are there areas in your life where you find it difficult to trust Jesus, even when you see evidence of God’s work? What might it look like to move from being less skeptical to more faithful, trusting the Shepherd’s voice even when some answers are not immediate or obvious?

The Shepherd’s Hand

Jesus continues with one of the most comforting promises in all of Scripture: “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them life in the age to come, and they will absolutely not perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

This passage reveals one of the most profound promises that comes from belonging to Jesus. His followers are not only known by him, but are also protected by the power of God. The assurance that “no one will snatch them out of my hand” is a promise of lasting spiritual safety and belonging for those who follow Jesus. Undergirding this assertion is the truth about the unity of Jesus and God. But it is not a unity of identity, but about a perfect partnership in purpose and action. This unity in purpose with God and Jesus is the foundation for the believer’s confidence and hope.

Reflect: In what ways do you need to rest securely in the hand of the Shepherd? How does knowing that the purposes of Jesus and God are unified change your outlook on challenges, fears, or uncertainties?

Invitation to Deeper Faith

The immediate response to Jesus is intense and divisive. Some pick up stones, accusing him of blasphemy for making himself “a god” (John 10:33). Jesus, however, points them back to Scripture, referencing Psalm 82:6: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?” (John 10:34). He challenges their understanding and invites them to examine his works as evidence of his mission from God: “If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I am doing them, though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you will come to know and continue to know that the Father is in union with me, and I am in union with the Father” (John 10:37-38).

As the opposition persists, Jesus withdraws beyond the Jordan, where many people come to him. They recall John the Baptist’s testimony and recognize that everything John said about Jesus was true (John 10:41-42). The Jordan area was away from the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem and was a quiet countryside. Many believe in him there, showing that trust often grows in places and moments where hearts are open and receptive.

Reflect: Are you willing to examine Jesus’ works and words with fresh eyes/ears and an open heart? How can you invite others to explore the truth of who Jesus is, even when it challenges their expectations?

Encouragement

This section reveals who Jesus is and why people should listen to him and believe him. He is the Shepherd who gives life to those who follow him, challenging the audience to move from doubt to faith. Take time today to listen for his voice, trust in his protection, and share his truth with those around you. As you do, may you experience the peace, assurance, and security that only the Good Shepherd can give.

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Our Hope in Every Season

Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust

Ps 26, 40, 58, 61-62, 64

Mother Teresa spoke of ‘the dark night of the soul.’ You would think that someone who served in such a ministry would be a titan of faith, impervious to doubt. But still, she wrestled with God. 

And, who could blame her? I’m sure that the stresses of her ministry continually bashed against the rock of her faith. 

All of our circumstances have a way of doing that. They are the waves of doubt, of shame, of sin, and of fear. They hit us throughout life in the jeers of our friends in middle school to the first heartbreak that comes with young love to the frustration of parenthood to the inevitable pain that comes with the final breaths our loved ones take.

James says that someone who doubts is like a wave blown and tossed by the wind. The antidote to that doubt is faith. But, what can be said of us then? For who can say that they haven’t wrestled with God? 

As we turn through the pages of scripture, we find that we are in good company. Abraham, Moses, and of course, Jacob wrestled with God in their own way. And, we see David struggling through the pain of his circumstances in the Psalms we read today. 

David cries out to God. He begs him to turn and listen. For someone who had slept on the floors of caves and pretended to be a madman in an enemy’s court, these words are more than just cliché. 

David always goes back to the same statement, ‘In God alone I trust. I will wait patiently for the Lord.’ 

How powerful that statement is. And, oh how hard it is. 

In the seasons of my life, I have prayed. When I woke up, when I lay my head down, and all the footsteps in between were filled with the same cry. And yet, my prayers were unanswered. What could I do? 

In those times – even now – I could make a choice to turn my face from God. But, the question “Oh Lord, who could I turn to? Where could I go from your presence? Who have I but you?” rings out. 

David understood this truth. God is our strong refuge in both the good times and bad. In health and sickness. Riches and poverty. Joy and sorrow. We turn to him in every season, and we wait patiently for him to act. 

And when we do, we understand the truth of Psalm 40:4-8: 

“4 Blessed is the man who makes

    the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

    to those who go astray after a lie!

5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

    none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

    yet they are more than can be told.

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

    but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    you have not required.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

8 I delight to do your will, O my God;

    your law is within my heart.”

-Cayce Fletcher

Cayce blogs at https://amorebeautifullifecollective.com about faith, family, and life. You’ll find encouragement for how to build intentional lives rooted in faith and beauty. Check out the latest post on the human nature of Jesus here. 

Reflection Questions

  1. Have you ever experienced a season of sorrow or silence? What was the outcome?
  2. What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Try to create a sentence-long definition of what that looks like.
  3. How is the perseverance of the saints related to waiting on God? Why is perseverance an important virtue in the Christian life?

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When You Don’t Know What Else to Do

Old Testament: 2 Kings 19-20

Poetry: Ps. 136

New Testament: Philippians 1

Yesterday, we learned about the exile of the nation of Israel because of the idolatry that they practiced. 2 Kings 17:34 describes the Israelites who lived in Samaria: “To this day they do according to the former manner [fearing God but also serving the gods of the surrounding nations]. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law of the commandments the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.” The nation of Israel had spiraled down the dark, deep hole of sin that ended in exile. 

There is a glimmer of hope in 2 Kings 18, as we read about Hezekiah the good king of the neighboring nation, Judah. “He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses” (v.5-6). 

A little over halfway through his reign, Hezekiah is faced with a terrible situation. The king of Assyria attacks Judah and forces Judah to pay him tribute. Things even got so bad that Hezekiah stripped the gold off the temple doors and gives it to the Assyrian king. The Assyrians mock God and swear that God has forsaken Judah. This is where chapter 19 picks up. 

When faced with a terrible situation, what does Hezekiah do? Hezekiah humbles himself, goes to God, and listens. Hezekiah sent people to Isaiah to pray in the nation’s behalf (v. 4). This proves to be exactly the right course of action. 

We can learn so much from the reign of Hezekiah, but I think it’s so important to look at how he handled these difficult situations. You can follow the example of Hezekiah in doing the following: 

  1. Humble yourself. Hezekiah tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth. He didn’t try to appear to have his life together. He recognized the severity of the situation and knew he could not save himself without God. 
  2. Go to God. Hezekiah went to the house of the Lord immediately. He knew where to turn with the situation got tough. 
  3. Seek counsel and comfort from godly people. Hezekiah gathered up a few trusted servants and priests to go to Isaiah, the prophet for help. 
  4. Recognize that you have a mediator who knows your needs. Hezekiah turned to Isaiah to be a mediator between God and him. He asks Isaiah to pray for him. We don’t have to turn to men to pray for us. Instead, we can go to God ourselves because we have a mediator in Jesus. 

At the end of this chapter, Isaiah gives some reassuring news. The Assyrian king would not destroy Judah. In fact, he would fall by his own sword. Verse 35-37 goes on to say, “That night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when the people arose early in the morning, behold these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword.” God’s promises are true. Praise God that we can go to him in all of our sufferings. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Reflection Questions: 

  1. What difficult situation are you facing today? What strikes fear in your heart? Makes you despair? Bring this situation to God. 
  2. Who are some people you can turn to in difficult situations that can help to point you to Christ?   
  3. How is prayer different from the Old Testament to the New Testament because of Christ?   

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Trust Issues

1 Corinthians 16

June 17

1 Corinthians Chapter 16 begins with Paul directing the Corinthians to set aside some money on the first day of the week.  He wants them to budget their charitable donations before they spend their money on other things during the week .  From this chapter alone it may not be immediately clear what the fundraiser was for.   Through supplemental materials we can see that the common consensus was that Paul was raising funds for the Christian Jews living in Jerusalem. They were being persecuted for their Christianity and there were many impoverished widows to support. Paul was collecting donations from many of the Gentile churches he had helped to establish, including the church in Corinth. (Partially sourced from Bibleref.com). Paul does not want to handle the money directly but plans to write letters of reference or maybe even personally  accompany delegates to deliver the money to Jerusalem so that the recipients know they can trust the source.

The chapter also talks about several people that will be visiting the Corinthians.  The Corinthians are instructed to trust and accept these visitors as ministers officially recognized by Paul himself.

Finally Paul closes his lengthy letter with well wishes and invites the Corinthians  to authenticate his handwriting.

As I read this chapter, it seems to me that the Corinthians may have had trust issues.  Paul seems to be challenging them to trust in God’s provision through the week even though they give charitably at the beginning of the week.  He directs them to trust the visitors he sends their way and finally he invites them to verify that the letter is really from him in case they don’t trust its content.

-Brian Froehlich

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1.  Do you ever distrust someone’s motives?
  2. Was there a reason that person lost your trust?
  3. Do you ever struggle to fully trust God?
  4. Is there a reason God has given you to not trust him?
  5. What is God calling you to trust him with in your life today?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Trust in the LORD

Psalm 114-116, especially 115

What do you put your trust in?

Odds are there are many things that you trust. You may trust your phone alarm to wake you up to go to school or work in the morning. You probably trust the light to come on when you flip the switch. You probably trust the furnace to come on when you turn up the thermostat. There are probably even people you trust deeply. It is good to trust in these things, usually. What happens when you flip the switch and the room is still dark? How about when you turn on the heat and it starts blowing cold air? Have you ever been late because your alarm didn’t wake you up (rather the alarm went off or not)? I bet you have even had a trusted friend or family member hurt you. So again I ask, “What do you do when the things or people you trust fall short?”

It is amazing how much it can throw us off when our trust is shaken. We may be tempted to “never trust anyone again.” We may want to throw the phone across the room and drop kick the furnace, but the fact is we knew these would eventually let us down. As we go through life we learn that all things, people included, fall short. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” This sounds like terrible news and in many ways it is, but there is good news as well. There is One that always has been, always will be, and He does NOT fail. Psalm 115 addresses the times we place too much trust in material items, the things of this world, our idols. Here we read a few of the many weaknesses of idols. They cannot speak, see, hear, smell, feel, walk, make a sound, and are made by human hands; yet still we place our trust in them. Why do we decide to place our trust in these inanimate objects? 

After reading of the weaknesses of idols we find many times that we are to trust in the LORD. We can trust in Him because He is the opposite of every aspect of the idols. “He is (our) help and (our) shield…He is mindful to us…He will bless us.” He is the source of every good thing, every blessing, and will NEVER fail. Verse 18 tells us, “we will bless the LORD from this time and forever.” This is the Kingdom hope we have, that we may bless the LORD and trust in the LORD for all time. 

-Bill Dunn

Today’s Bible reading plan passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Psalm 114- 116 and Ezekiel 21-22

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Numbers 23-24, Luke 2

We’ve seen Israel’s unfaithfulness to God because of their lack of ability to trust God over the previous chapters. Even so, God still provides for the Israelites. He still shows up for them and helps them to overcome their obstacles, the battles that they face. In Numbers 21, Israel faces the Amorites, one of the desert peoples who tried to stand up against them. They defeated them and the surrounding peoples and dwelt in their cities with the help of God. 

After living in the land of the Amorites, they left that area and traveled to Moab, whose king was Balak. Balak was terrified of the Israelites, because of their previous victories and phoned help in the form of Balaam, a diviner from a land 400 miles away from Moab. Balak the Moabite wanted Balaam the diviner to put a curse on the Israelite people, and so Balaam traveled to meet Balak (despite God’s repeated warnings). Numbers 23-24 details the oracles that Balaam gives about the Israelite people. In each oracle, Balaam speaks exactly what God wants him to. Even though Balak asked for a curse, Balaam is not able to give one. Instead, he speaks truth, blessings, and good promises about the Israelites based on God’s faithfulness to them.  In fact, Balak gets so fed up with Balaam’s oracles that he summons him in Numbers 24:10-11 and tells him to go home without a reward! Balaam responds by saying, “Didn’t I tell you? If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the Lord’s command, to do anything good or bad of my own will? I will say what the Lord says” (Numb. 24:13). The Spirit of God allowed Balaam to proclaim God’s truth. He proclaimed the good deeds God had done for the Israelites, and he proclaimed words that spoke blessings for the people. 

Interestingly, in Luke 2, we also read of proclamations and oracles. However, these proclamations are given by a very different kind of being on a very different occasion. In Luke 2, we read about the birth of Jesus. This account includes the shepherds greeted by the heavenly host who praised God after they sent the shepherds on the way to baby Jesus. These angels proclaim “good news of great joy that will be for all people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David” (Luke 2:10-11). The angels proclaimed the greatness of God. And, they proclaimed the good things that God was going to bring to his people, the Christ. 

We may not have a diviner proclaiming God’s promises to us. We may not have a heavenly host appear to us. But, we do have God’s word. In his word, we have proclamation after proclamation of the good things that God is giving us. We have promise after promise of what a life as a believer will lead to. When you are facing difficult times, where the end seems unclear and your feet feel unsteady, trust in the proclamations of God. What is he proclaiming over you today?

~ Cayce Fletcher

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading at Biblegateway.com: Job 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 2 .

download the seekgrowlove 2021 Bible reading plan

Numbers 21-22, Luke 1

The Israelites’ wilderness wanderings continue in Numbers 21-22. Even though they had chosen not to enter the Promised Land because of their perceived battles, the battles came to them in the wilderness. They faced the kingdoms of Edom, Arad, Amorites, and Ammonites. In all of these battles, the outcome of the standoff was based not in the strength of the Israelite people, but in the amount of trust they had in God. 

The Israelites were a stubborn people though. They had a tendency to forget the lessons they had just learned. In Numbers 21, they had just shown their trust in God when they defeated the king of Arad. But, in verse 4, they began to grumble and complain against God, asking why they had come out of Egypt to the wilderness. This is a recurring pattern with the Israelites. When they face difficult circumstances, they begin to complain. God always responds strongly to their complaints – sometimes strikingly so. It makes him incredibly angry each and every time they begin to act in this way. In this instance, he sent poisonous snakes among the people. At other times, he sent plagues, fire, or disease – anything to show his displeasure. 

We know that this action – the complaining and grumbling against God’s ordained path – causes God anger. But, as I am reading through the book of Numbers, it’s hard for me to really rectify the description of this wrathful, vengeful God and the God of the New Testament who sent his son to wipe away all sins. Why did it make God this angry? Is it really that bad to complain? 

To answer this question, we can turn to the other passage that we were looking at today: Luke 1. This is the story of the pregnancy announcements of both John the Baptist and Jesus – both of which happened before they got pregnant! John the Baptist parents were Zechariah and Elizabeth, another Levite from the line of Aaron. Zechariah was chosen to serve in the temple, a once in a lifetime opportunity for him, when an angel of the Lord appeared and told him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. There will be joy and delight for you” (Luke 1:13-14). After this, I would imagine that Zechariah would be jumping for joy – the desires of his heart, his deepest prayer, had been answered! But, that’s not the picture that we get. Zechariah responds, “How can I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years” (Luke 1:18). Zechariah’s prayers were answered, but he wanted proof. He wanted God to prove himself to Zechariah. It seemed like an angel of the Lord appearing to Zechariah just wasn’t enough for him. 

In both the Israelites’ and Zechariah’s situation (as well as the situation with Balaam and his donkey in Numbers 22), they wanted God to prove himself to be God. The previous faithfulness God had shown them wasn’t enough; they wanted God to prove himself to be big enough and powerful enough in that moment for them to trust him. But – I don’t think, for any of these people, anything that God could have done in that moment would truly have caused them to trust him more. It wasn’t on God to prove himself to them. For the Israelites, he caused the plagues in Egypt, split the Red Sea, routed whole armies. For Zechariah, he sent a messenger to talk to him face to face and tell him that his greatest desire was answered. They had already received their signs. It was the people’s responsibility to soften their hearts enough to trust in God. They needed to believe that God was who he said he was and would do what he said he would do. 

We are required to trust in the same way. God has done tremendously more than we have ever deserved. He is currently doing more in our lives than we could ever hope for. It is our responsibility to trust him to be God. We just have to follow in obedience to him.

~ Cayce Fletcher

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading at Biblegateway.com: Job 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 2 .

download the seekgrowlove 2021 Bible reading plan

Numbers 19-20, Psalm 51-52

Moses and the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings continue on in Numbers 19-20. In previous chapters as we’ve seen, God faithfully shows up for Moses, choosing him and the Levites as the priesthood to be the leaders and go-betweens between God and the Israelite people. In Numbers 20, Moses has to deal with the Israelites’ rebellious spirit again. They came fighting against Moses saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord. Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!” (Numb. 20:3-5).

Even though God continued to provide for the Israelites time and time again, the Israelites had yet to learn to trust in him. They questioned God’s purpose for them and even stated that they wished they had died with the Israelites who had been killed in the plague after Korah’s rebellion. One rebellion had just been resolved with the blossoming of Aaron’s branch, but the people were again questioning Moses’ leadership because of their circumstances in the wilderness. 

Moses responds as he normally does – by falling face down before God to beg God for help. God responds to Moses and Aaron and gives them specific instructions to follow: take your staff and speak to a rock. Then, water will flow out. However, Moses, heated in the moment, rashly gathers the assembly and says to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” Then, he struck the rock twice and water gushed out (Numb. 20:9-11). In this pivotal moment of Moses’ leadership, he does not respond with level-headed humility. Instead, he responds rebelliously towards God because of his frustration with the people. By forcefully striking the rock and saying that it was him – Moses – who brought the water out, he took the glory away from God and placed it on himself. Moses decided that he was going to be the one to save the Israelites, and he forcefully showed them what he could do. 

I totally can identify and sympathize with Moses in this moment. He loved God. He loved the people. And, he truly wanted what was best for the people. But, he got frustrated. He was tired and probably thirsty. He was overwhelmed. Because of this, he made a mistake with dire consequences; he would not lead the people into the promised land. He got caught up in the feelings of the moment, the seeming impossibility of shepherding the Israelite people into a trusting, righteous way of living and into the promised land. When he looked at his situation, he may have felt trapped, may have felt hopeless, or may have just felt mad. The one thing he forgot to do was to view those feelings in light of the character of God. He forgot to trust in who God was – to remember that despite what the Israelites were saying, God was always in Moses’ corner. 

We all have times where the circumstances we are in cause us to be blinded by the feelings we have. We may feel stuck, tired, hopeless, mad. Maybe we feel like we just want to hit something. Or we just want to give up. But remember – God is in our corner. When we face those difficult times, we can trust that he will always come through. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading at Biblegateway.com: Job 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 2 .

download the seekgrowlove 2021 Bible reading plan

Isaiah 40-43

He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint

“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” ~ Is. 40:1-2 

While the first 39 chapters of Isaiah consist of the judgment pronounced on Israel & Judah, the book of consolation begins in chapter 40 and continues for the last 27 chapters of the book (mirroring the set-up of the Bible itself). Isaiah 40-43 contains beautiful pictures of who God is and breath-taking prophecies of the future messiah. When we look at the story of the Israelites a central theme that we see is the forsaking of the true God for idols. Because they could see the idols and because other nations worshipped in the same way, they felt like it was more profitable to worship them. However, these idols always proved to be worthless and caused pain and destruction. If we see that we are worshipping idols, what should we do? How can we turn away from the worthlessness of these idols to the infinite value found in God through Christ. 

Isaiah 40-43 gives us an answer to that as well. In Isaiah 40, Isaiah reminds us who God is. He asks the question in v. 18-19, “Who will compare God with? What likeness will you compare Him to? To an idol? Something that a smelter casts, and a metalworker plates with gold and makes silver welds for it?” Instead of worshipping a created thing, God points us to what he has created to show his power and to show us that he is the only one worth worshipping. In v. 26, he says, “Look up and see: who created these? He brings out the starry host by number; He calls all of them by name. Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing.” When we find ourselves looking towards idols for our value and worth – and in turn worshipping them, we need to remind ourselves of where our true value comes from. To do that, we have to turn our eyes away from ourselves and the things we think define us – whether that’s our relationships, money, career, or anything else – and turn them towards the only thing that really gives us worth. By focusing on God and basing our lives on his unchanging character, we can rest in God through the storms and trials of life. He is our firm foundation. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

 

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to on Bible Gateway – Isaiah 40-43.

Tomorrow, we continue reading about the history of Judah and Israel in Isaiah 44-48 – as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan.

Isaiah 31-34

The Lord gives victory to his anointed. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

One highlight of my year is going to South East Camp held on the mountaintops of the NC Blue Ridge. Years ago, we drove down the mountain to a center with a high ropes course. Everyone suited up with a helmet and a buddy and clipped their carabiner to the first level on the course. Now, I have some friends who are into rock climbing and would be happy to dangle off the top of a mountain just to get the adrenaline rush. However, I am not that person. As a child, I used to get weak knees going to the edge of the second floor balcony at my church. In fact, there are still some rides I refuse to go on at amusement parks, because the drop is just too much. I’ve gotten better, but I definitely am still scared of heights. Going back to our high ropes adventure, I made it through the whole course, including the more difficult parts, but then I came to the end where I needed to zip line down to the ground. 

Looking down off the ledge, I could already feel a tingling in my knees and my palms getting sweaty. At that moment, I felt like turning around and going through the whole ropes course again just to make it back down to the bottom, because I felt like that was something that I could control with my body. Even though my heart was racing, I paused to take a few deep breaths, and then I stepped off the side to zoom through the air. In truth, once I picked up my feet, I felt safe and secure in my harness. The obstacle I had to overcome was one of trusting that my harness would do what it was supposed to do. I had to trust in something that I couldn’t control, but was probably the quickest and safest way down. 

In Isaiah 31, we read about some trust issues that the Israelites had developed with God. They weren’t afraid of heights in this case; instead, they were afraid of the nations around them. Israel had chosen to rely on numbers of men and horses when they faced battle, and because of this, they had grown to depend on Egypt’s help. They thought that by controlling the amount of man- and horsepower they could bring to a fight they could ensure their victory. However, God reminds them that the “Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit” (Isaiah 31:3). God was so much stronger than anyone the Israelites would face, but they refused to see it. By not trusting in God, they paved the way for their own demise (v. 3). 

We also have a daily choice between trusting God or trusting our own flesh. It may come in the form of choosing to be obedient to God’s command, by giving away our money or time to someone in need, or by sacrificing a desire to make room for a deeper relationship with God. In those times, we may want to trust in our own minds or bodies, because we feel like we can control those things. But, remember, God is so much more mighty than we are. We can trust him in whatever situation that we face. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

 

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to on Bible Gateway – Isaiah 31-34.

Tomorrow, we continue reading about the history of Judah and Israel in Isaiah 35-36– as we continue the 2020 Chronological Bible Reading Plan.