Corona Devo 135

Don't forget who your Daddy is (our Heavenly Father/Daddy).  

We can't forget our roots, and where we came from.

Have we forgotten our royal lineage to the King of the Universe and that the blood in our veins pumps because He created it to do so?  We must also remember that we are saved (delivered!) by the blood of God's Son, Jesus.  

The days and stresses and mandates and questions of Corona have masked our vision and understanding of God and ourselves.  We sort of feel like captives in this current situation, don't we? 

Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—all who seek the Lord!
Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined.  ~Isaiah 51:1

Right off the bat, God firmly but affectionately cups our chin in His hands and says, "Listen to me".  He knows that we are running ourselves ragged listening to everyone else and their opinions about how we should live and proceed.  But God reminds us: Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—all who seek the Lord!  ~Isaiah 51:1.  Yes, we do hope for deliverance.  From all of this uncertainty and most of all from the unrest in our minds and ourselves.  You provide that peace, Lord, and to find that peace and deliverance, we must seek You (all who seek the Lord!).  We have to do more than listlessly hope for deliverance, we must put our faith into motion and seek the Lord!  This is how the rubber meets the road and faith takes root and grows wings!

Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined.  ~Isaiah 51:1

Wow, soak up the beauty of this truth and this image.  Consider (remember, think upon, acknowledge, contemplate) the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined.  Each of us were cut from the "rock" of God.  If the Lord is a quarry, we were "mined" from Him.  We can't forget our roots or deny our lineage to Him.  God is our Heavenly Father, and we are His sons and daughters.  Soak in that for a moment.  This isn't a metaphor, this is the Truth about us and God.  We are His and His qualities are in us.  And God reminds us of this to give us confidence and strength when we lapse and our situations cause us to hope for deliverance.  No need to "hope"--God assures us of fact: Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined.  ~Isaiah 51:1

2 Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
Abraham was only one man when I called him.  But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”  ~Isaiah 51:2

Abraham and Sarah were "normal" people like you and me.  But they submitted to God's call on their lives and served Him as best they could, and God blessed their willingness.  The Lord reminds us of these Biblical characters because He will use us too.  I am not saying that our parts in God's story will be as famous as Abraham and Sarah, but when it was all rolling out in their lives day to day, it didn't seem "monumental".  It just felt like following God one step at a time, one day at a time.  That is all He asks us to do as well.

3 The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins.  ~Isaiah 51:3  

"Israel" is one of God's references for his people, and so that is us, too.  

These verses dig down pretty deep and I find them very relevant for today.  Hasn't Corona changed so many things?  More than changed...it has ruined so many things.  Corona has made ruins of most of our planned activities since March.  Regular schooling and work, organized sports, church gatherings, vacations, family gatherings...all were ruined.  And many things have been left-in-ruins: businesses that couldn't withstand the quarantine, marriages, even lives. 

Does the Lord see us?  Is there hope?  Yes.

3 The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins.  ~Isaiah 51:3.  God sees us.  He does not create all of the bad, nor will He prevent all of it, but He does walk with us through it, and he comforts us and has pity on us.  But wait...there's more!  There WILL be a Corona un-quarantine.  There WILL be a re-emergence to society and activity and relationships.  We can't stay cooped up forever!  And God will be with us in the next stage too.  I love to read of his "next stage" for us.  Take hope in it!

Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found there.  Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.  ~Isaiah 51:3

How did the prophet Isaiah know that some of our days are so emotionally hot and dry they feel like a desert?  And how did Isaiah pen our exact emotion about Corona feeling like a barren wilderness?  

But then, I can't help but smile at the promises that God unfurls for us next.  Our deserts will blossom.  Our barren wilderness will be like the garden of the Lord.  If we are looking for a breath of hope or a gasp of air--here it is.  You won't find it on the news or in a substance.  God gave those words of hope and life to Isaiah and us.  

There are better days coming.  Don't give up.  Abraham and Sarah had many times that they could have thrown in the towel, but they persevered, and that is what God's people do.  Not in our own strength.  (LOL, I ran out of that the second week of homeschooling!)  But in God's strength.  And the Lord promises and proclaims better days: Joy and gladness will be found there.  Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.  ~Isaiah 51:1-3 

Sign me up!  

We cannot forget the rock from which you were cut, and we can also trust in God's word and the promises that he has given to us.  We don't need to wait for permission or a mandate: we can change our perspective and attitude today.  Joy and gladness will be found there.  Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.  ~Isaiah 51:3 

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com