While You Still Can
Have you found yourself chasing the treasures and pleasures of this world? Have you attempted to find peace and purpose outside of the One who created you? Have you discovered that your striving has done nothing but leave you anxious, empty, overwhelmed, and possibly numb?
God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, said this:
“Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.”
Isaiah 55:6-7 NLT
It’s not too late for you, and you are not too far from God.
So what can you do? Seek Him. Call on Him. Change your ways. Turn to Him. And what will He do? He will be near. He will offer His mercy. He will forgive even the worst of your decisions, mistakes, and sins.
God is good. God is also good at being God. He created you, He loves you, and He wants a relationship with you. And since He designed you, He knows how you were hardwired to thrive.
He knows that you need Him more than anything else in the world.
You can ignore His nudges and reject His love and continue to do things your way. Or, you can come boldly to the throne of grace, where you will receive mercy and grace when you need it most (Hebrews 4:16).
So while you still can … seek Him, call on Him, change your ways, and turn to Him. He is your loving Father and He is your merciful God.
“In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the ...
God is Faithful
We all have to face hard things. It’s not if you will face them, but when. But when those challenges come, you can know you’re not alone.
In Isaiah 43:2, God reminds Israel that His faithfulness doesn’t change with their circumstances. He was faithful in the past, and He would continue to protect and provide for them…
“When you pass through the waters…”
After 400 years of slavery, God empowered Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity. Just as the opposing army was closing in and all seemed lost, God made a way—right through the Red Sea. (See Exodus 14.) This is probably what the book of Isaiah is referencing to remind the Israelites of God’s power.
“When you pass through the rivers…”
Isaiah’s readers would have likely been reminded of the time God dried up the Jordan River for the Israelites when they were crossing over with the ark of the Lord. They even built a memorial, so that generations to come would remember God’s presence. (You ...