Today's title (which is the official motto of the United States of America) is not a reflection on that country but on all of us. We profess one thing but practice another. We profess God but trust ourselves and our friends and allies. This was 700 years before Christ as well, where God's people were in name only. Our opening verse from Isiaah talks about the infidelity of man towards God, true then and true now.
"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused...."
Isaiah was best known as the Hebrew prophet who predicted the coming of Jesus Christ and is known for having urged Israel to rely on Yahweh, their national god, instead of on the political power, and the gods of nations like Egypt or Assyria for protection and prosperity. He also promoted just and ethical practices in everyday life and politics.
Today the opening verse is as true as it was during Isiah's time:
A. low or no trust in God;
B. dependence on man and earthly things;
C. no rest for the body or soul and
yet the promise of our faithful God of redemption, which we studiously ignore or consider irrelevant.
Today as then, we thrive on excitement and restlessness. Oscillating between different paths and ways, we try to find answers to life's challenges, not trusting in God in quiet faith, but in our own abilities, forgetting that those very abilities are God given.
A logical question then is : what did Isiaah want to convey?
1st - We need to understand and be clear that this is a directive straight from God.
2nd - It is an invitation to return to God and
3rd - It defines our strength from God and which comes through is faith and trust and which deliver which deliver peace and rest.
Faith and Trust in God replaces anxiety with hope; it stills the mind and the soul and engages a strength which surpasses all and which is God. Nothing is too small or big for our God. Then why should we be foolish and not pass on our problems to Him rather than try and solve it ourselves?
Today as then, we thrive on excitement and restlessness. Oscillating between different paths and ways, we try to find answers to life's challenges, not trusting in God in quiet faith, but in our own abilities, forgetting that those very abilities are God given.
A logical question then is : what did Isiaah want to convey?
1st - We need to understand and be clear that this is a directive straight from God.
2nd - It is an invitation to return to God and
3rd - It defines our strength from God and which comes through is faith and trust and which deliver which deliver peace and rest.
Faith and Trust in God replaces anxiety with hope; it stills the mind and the soul and engages a strength which surpasses all and which is God. Nothing is too small or big for our God. Then why should we be foolish and not pass on our problems to Him rather than try and solve it ourselves?
Jesus has opened the door, all we need to do is trust Him and walk in.
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