August 24, 2023
Scripture: Isaiah 9:10 – ““The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
What it means:
The book of Isaiah was written by the “major prophet” Isaiah – the first 39 chapters were written during his ministry around 700 BC. during a not-so-great period for the nation of Israel. They were reeling as a country, having been punished for their many sins and were in need of a major rebuild. Like any great people or nation, they had a little problem with pride, and many within the country thought that they could just snap their fingers and take care of their little problem themselves. They thought they could recover and rebuild in their own strength. Even though it was God Himself who had made Israel a nation and given the land that they occupied, the people put their trust in themselves, rather than Him. Pride is a slippery slope – we probably all struggle with it to a certain degree, but unfortunately, that is a hot button topic for The Lord. Pride of any kind is really displeasing to God…if for no other reason, we begin to think that we can take care of everything ourselves and have no use for God. We begin to talk to Him less and less and our relationship suffers greatly. The scripture that we just read sounds pretty cocky – “we got this”, but the verses that follow indicate that God isn’t taking too kindly to this attitude they are exhibiting. Whenever we get overly confident and think “we got this”, often times we discover for ourselves that we really don’t…this life can be tough, and we all need the sovereignty and strength of our Heavenly Father. Trust me.
What it means to me:
We are finally beginning to see the repair/rebuilding of our front steps of the church that was damaged a few months ago. While we can be hopeful and optimistic that our church will be restored to its previous state, we still need to be on our knees and realize now more than ever that we really, really need The Lord. It will be because of His grace and mercy that we will be able to get our steps fixed. He is so good to us – rather than focus on our loss as a church, we need to be incredibly thankful that nobody was hurt during the accident. I will gladly sacrifice a building over a single human life any day of the week – even the house of The Lord. He will restore our church and allow us to get fixed what was damaged – not us.
I love you, take care and we’ll see you on Sunday! I'll probably be remote again in the interest of not spreading my wonderful Covid germs...think I would probably be okay with a mask, but just in case...
In Christ,
Brian