February 23, 2023
Scripture: Isaiah 26:4 – “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”
What it means
I know the Covid pandemic has been hard on everybody, but one of the positive things that arose was me starting to do these devotionals. I pray that they have been beneficial for each of you, because I have treasured the opportunity to study different scriptures that I wouldn’t have, left to my own devices…particularly in the Old Testament. There’s so much rich stuff there, and there are several hidden nuggets in the book of Isaiah.This cuts right to the heart of what we need to do as followers of Christ: simply trust in The Lord…forever. And why should we do that? Again, simple enough: He’s the Rock eternal. He is worthy of our praise and our worship, and He is trustworthy…He is always trustworthy, every time. As we expand a little bit in this 26thchapter of Isaiah, looking ahead to verses 5-6, the author goes on to speak of God “leveling the playing field” a little bit – literally and figuratively: “He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.”
What it means to me
The United Methodist Church had 1 Peter 5:5 as their scripture for today on their website: “In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”Interestingly enough, this is a direct quote back to the Old Testament in Proverbs 3:34. It is striking, the number of times in scripture that God speaks of really disliking pride. It is a slippery slope, as we all like to feel valued by others, but we need to be careful and not get carried away with it. If you’re at the other end of the spectrum and perhaps don’t have great self-esteem, fear not…God will go to bat for you! So trust in The Lord forever – because He’s the Rock…and He loves you dearly!
Love you guys, see you on Sunday!
In Christ,
Brian