Reading the Bible prayerfully might mean that we sometimes get a little off schedule in the reading plan.
That’s ok.
Have you ever taken a train? Reading this verse, my mind immediately went to riding the subway in NYC. The first time I rode the 6 train, I was around 8 years old, holding my aunt’s hand since she was an experienced New Yorker. We boarded the train, and there was one seat open, so my aunt told me to sit and she stood in front of me. I was grateful to be securely seated when the shaky train lurched forward. Unstable ground is a dangerous environment for one who hasn’t yet matured.
Fast forward ten years and there I am on the train again, this time by myself, anxious to prove that I could navigate the 6 without help. I boarded the train like a pro, then took notice of the fact that there were no seats. I was going to have to stand. I’d seen others appear to hold their ground without grabbing onto the handrail or gripping the poles, and I decided that’s the look I was going for too. The train jumped forward as we made our way towards Grand Central, and I immediately lost my balance and reached for the pole to stabilize myself.
In order to stand firm, we must cultivate a faith that is firm. And that part is on us.
Turns out, I wasn’t ready to do what everybody else was doing.
But then, a few years and a couple hundred subway trips later, 22-year-old me hopped on the train. Narrowly avoiding the closing doors, I stood in the middle of the aisle in the only 12 x 12 inch spot open, not a single handrail or standing pole in sight. And I stood my ground through rocky turns, abrupt stops, and numerous transfers on the way from Manhattan to my brother’s Brooklyn apartment. Never slipped or faltered once.
Experience taught me how to stand firm on shaky ground. Likewise, our experience with God cultivates a faith firm enough to keep us upright when things get rocky.
Likewise, our experience with God cultivates a faith firm enough to keep us upright when things get rocky.
One chapter earlier in Isaiah 6, God instructs the prophet to deliver an interesting message. Take a look at Isaiah 6:9-13:
9 And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people,
‘Listen carefully, but do not understand.
Watch closely, but learn nothing.’
10 Harden the hearts of these people.
Plug their ears and shut their eyes.
That way, they will not see with their eyes,
nor hear with their ears,
nor understand with their hearts
and turn to me for healing.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?”
And he replied,
“Until their towns are empty,
their houses are deserted,
and the whole country is a wasteland;
12 until the Lord has sent everyone away,
and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.
13 If even a tenth—a remnant—survive,
it will be invaded again and burned.
But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down,
so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.”
God is not interested in being an option.
Better to recognize that we never had another option to begin with.
There is so much to be said about this word, and far more meat on this bone than we have time to unpack right now. But I really want us to notice the three conditions discussed in verse 10: they will not hear, they will not see, and they will not understand. Why would a good and kind and caring God subject His people – His chosen ones – to that sort of condition?
So that they would turn to Him for healing.
How long will this go on?
Until they have nothing left.
Because God is not interested in being an option. He’d much rather you recognize that you never had another option to begin with.
And then, in the next chapter: “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”
God loves us too much to keep us comfortable.
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