Week Three
Introduction to Week Three
How are you doing with your consistency in daily quiet time? Have you found your rhythm? If not, don’t despair. You are loved whether you are consistent or not! However, also don’t give up. Ask yourself what is stopping you from daily time with God. Pray. See what needs to change so you get those precious few minutes of sitting at His feet each day. We are going to be reading history this week. Yes. Right in the middle of the long book of Isaiah are some stories of what happened when King Hezekiah reigned in Judah. I’m excited to change it up a bit as we dive into the day to day life of our prophet. We’ll see how he lived out his calling to speak for God in practical everyday ways. Enjoy your week ahead!
June 11 – Isaiah 32
Today, Isaiah gives us a look at future happiness and coming disaster, all in the same chapter. This is the kaleidoscope effect, as I like to call it. The scenes that Isaiah describes shift and reframe as he shares what God reveals. We see in this chapter a righteous king, our Jesus, in the last days. I love the line in verse two, describing the relief of having Jesus reign as being like “streams in the desert.” Imagine wandering in the sand and dust and heat, parched and desperate for water. Just when you think you cannot bear it another moment – there it is. A stream of pure, cold, refreshing water right in the middle of that barren land. Can you imagine the rejoicing and relief that would bring? When we finally arrive at Heaven’s gates, dear friend, it will be like finding a stream in the desert. What a joy that will be!
Yet, smack dab in the middle of showing us the far future, Isaiah suddenly turns to complacent women in his own day and warns them that before this far-away day, there will come a day of reckoning to them in their present day. And it will not be pretty. All complacency and lazy, comfort-driven living will be over. Instead, famine will overtake the land, and there will be sorrow and fear in its wake. Isaiah’s desire is for his people to wake up and repent before these horrors have to occur. He uses every opportunity he has to warn his people. Can you imagine listening to all the happy news of future goodness and then getting a rude awakening as the prophet suddenly reminds you of what will happen soon if you do not change your ways? Whoa. Isaiah surely tried hard to reach out and shake up a land who had forgotten their God, didn’t he?
After that shake up, we go back to the future again, as Isaiah speaks with awe of the world to come. I love reading about our future. It’s all there in Chapter 32.
My verse: Isaiah 32:17 “And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.”
My response: What a beautiful future! Righteousness yields peace, quiet, and confidence. Thank You, Lord, for these glimpses of the future – so different from the chaotic, jarring, unpredictable world of today.
