Isaiah 31:1 and 3 - Woe to
them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in
chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are
very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek
the LORD. Now the Egyptians are men, and
not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the
LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that
is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
Isaiah’s words were for those that had stopped trusting God…and
began to call on other Gods. It got so bad that they even began to call on the other
nations God had told them to have nothing to do with. They forgot the miracles
of God…and began to trust in the visual strength of huge chariots…and sheer
numbers of people in the armies. They began to trust in men instead of God.
It is always tempting…to place our trust in what we can
actually put our hands on…what our eyes can see. Many of us are like Thomas…who need to see
the holes where the nails pierced his hands and feet… and feel the scar where
Christ was pierced before we believe. But while we are waiting for God to appear
in that upper room…satan is hard at work trying to trick us with that concrete
object that he knows our heart is longing for.
If we bite that lure that satan dangles in front of us…because
we begin to doubt that God is really still at work in our lives…not only do we
miss the miracle…but we miss the chance to learn more about trusting the father
with everything. It’s like those trust exercises
where you have to fall into the locked arms of two other people…you are a good
chunk of human…and the two picked to catch you are small frail chunks of God’s
creation. You have to trust that they
will catch you…and it’s hard for the logical side of your brain to believe that
they can do it. The odds are just not in
their favor.
Trust works with a different part of your body. It works with the heart and soul. It takes the unseen and makes it a strong
enough dream in your soul so your mind and spirit and help it grow into
something that is just not of this world…because it is from God. If we trusted God as much as we trust other
things…then we would see the kind of miracles that Jesus showed people while he
lived on this Earth.
It must be really hard though…cause we don’t read in the
Bible that all of them started performing miracles with the faith and trust
Jesus had tried to build. Peter sure got
it...his trust grew into such faith …that people found power in just his shadow.
(Read Acts 5.) Peter used his faith to strengthen others…and heal…and preach the
gospel under all kinds of stress and persecution.
Father…thank you for the reminder that you want me to trust
you more than I trust anything else.
Forgive me for the times that I have placed my trust in anything else
but you. And thank you for cleaning up
the mess my bad choices made. Help me to
focus on you so completely that my heart stays totally dedicated to trusting
everything you tell me to do. Amen.
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