Corona Devo 233

9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands.  Prepare for battle, and be shattered!  Prepare for battle, and be shattered! ~Isaiah 8:9

These words from Isaiah sound like they could be shouted across the political battlegrounds today.  It is hard to enter a conversation without it tipping into how the political and emotional divide is affecting us.  People are bothered, their hearts are at unrest, and our "simmering pots" are beginning to boil.  

Some people want a fight for the wrong reasons, and some people do not want to fight, but their emotions are running so high that it may erupt anyway.

God reminds us that our plan must be grounded in Him.  Are your arguments and your vote grounded in God and His ways?  His stances on birth, life, death, marriage, and His chosen people (Israel).  Some issues may be harder to discern "What would Jesus would do?", but most are crystal clear if we know our Bible.  Do you? 

Standing on anything but God's word is sinking sand, and we cannot stand (for long) without Him.

(10) Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.  ~Isaiah 8:10

I feel God's word reminding us today to think.  To listen, to look, and to be wise in what we see and hear.  We cannot just swallow everything that we read or see as "truth".  "Everything" is not truth, and everything called a "conspiracy" is not a conspiracy.  But don't take my word for it:

(11) This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people: (12) “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.  (13) The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. ~Isaiah 8:11-13

God warned Isaiah's crowds, and God warns us just the same: Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it (. ~Isaiah 8:12).  We must have eyes to see and ears to hear.  The only thing that separates us from other mammals is the human ability to reason.  Let us exercise that ability as often as needed: as we read, as we listen, and as we watch the world around us.  Think for yourself and think with God's laws as your base, not popular opinion.

The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. ~Isaiah 8:13

Digesting this verse takes two swallows.  The first is realizing that Isaiah is mocking our gut-reaction of fearing the "conspiracies" that the world creates or fabricates.  We should not fear popular/trending/media conspiracies.  But the second gulp packs a punch--there IS One whom we should fear.  A holy fear.  A reverence.  A holy "dread" if you will.  God is no conspiracy.  People have been trying to dispel His story and His impact on people's lives for over 2,000 years, and if Jesus Christ was a conspiracy His tall-tale would have fizzled out by now.  But He is real.  The stories, miracles, and changed lives surrounding Jesus are fantastical, but these saved-souls prove His validity.  You and I prove His validity. 

Still, following God, His word, and His ways is hard.  The world and it's self-seeking-ways has always battled against God and His serve-others-ways.  He is a respite for so many of us, but He is a stumbling block for those that want to "earn" their way to heaven, or live life on their own terms.   

 (14) He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.  And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.  (15) Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”  (16) Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples. (17) I will wait for the Lord...I will put my trust in him. ~Isaiah 8:14-17

God is right here with us in the divides that separate us from our neighbors and families today.  He sees the distance between us, and He is a holy place, for us to go to.  (And by the way, He doesn't want the distance between us.  Jesus died on the cross for Democrats and Republicans.  We can have our own political opinions and share the same faith.)    

Will people stumble in seeking their own ways instead of His?  Yes.  "Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.” (Isaiah 8:15).  Jesus, we pray for so many who are fallen and broken today.  They have been ensnared and captured by the enemy's advancements on their thinking, their faith, their lives.  Do you have loved ones that are ensnared?  Are we ensnared?

I will wait for the Lord...I will put my trust in him. ~Isaiah 8:17

God sees the unrest in our Country and our hearts and He draws us near.  We can trust Him.  He is no mirage or conspiracy.  But Christ-followers are challenged (by today's verses and by today's society) to think (and vote!) in the ways of Christ and to keep clear heads.

“Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it."  ~Isaiah 8:12

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com