Isaiah 58:11

Isaiah 58:11

“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

Honestly, I don’t have some well thought out string of words for this verse. But, this verse is wildly good and so comforting during this weird season of life. The day I turned 18 one of my first thoughts was “oh gosh, now comes a lifetime of having to make all my own decisions. No thank you.” Then I realized something great. As humans our whole life is made up of daily, little decisions that affect the course of our whole life. But there were big decisions in my near future that I so dreaded that weren’t ever mine to make. Instead of just trying to pick what I think will work best, I can let the Lord direct my life along His perfect plan for me. If He is the One making the decisions, I’ll never have to worry if I’m where He wants me to be. I can live in the peace that comes from being in the center of His will. I love that this verse doesn’t sugar coat that being in God’s will does not mean life is easy. There will be droughts and times where exhaustion threatens to take over. But, during those times is when the Lord gets to be everything we need. During the seasons of confusion and drought His love is so clearly seen in the way that He carries us through what we think is impossible. The first rain after a drought always brings a ton of growth. No one can deny the change that’s occurred but if there wasn’t a season of drought, there would be nothing to contrast the growth to and it wouldn’t mean as much. I guess my point in all of this is that the Lord is in the drought just as much as He is in the seasons of intense growth. The drought does not mean that He has abandoned or forgotten about you or wants you to be miserable. His love is still perfect, He is still in control. But, often a drought is needed before the rains come. 

Deuteronomy 30:1-6

Deuteronomy 30:1-6

 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, ² and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. ⁴ If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. ⁵ Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. ⁶ And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

In this passage there are two little words that are repeated so much that they stand out despite their initial insignificance. The first word is “all.” In these 6 verses it’s repeated 8 times so clearly we need to pay attention to it. I know its obvious but “all” really does mean exactly that: all. All of the blessings and curses the Lord had promised would come to pass depending on whether the Israelites chose obedience or disobedience. If they disobeyed they would be scattered, but when they called on the Lord He would gather them from every single nation to which they had been scattered. God promised life if they loved Him with every part of their heart and with the entirety of their souls. He doesn’t ask for part of us but for every single part of who we are to be completely surrendered to Him. Our God is not a God who does things in pieces. He finishes what He begins (Philippians 1:6) and not one of His promises is not fulfilled (Joshua 21:45). Since Easter just passed, the fact of just how far the Lord went to save us is fresh on my mind. He paid the ultimate price by giving up His life to pay for the sins of the world. He went all the way in order to save us. In light of a God who goes all in, how could we do anything but go all in as well?

The second word that’s repeated over and over again is the word “will.” I just talked about how the promises of God can be trusted and in these verses are about 8 different promises that the Lord gives His people if they just turn to Him with their whole hearts. He promises to bring His repentant children out of captivity and have compassion on them. They don’t have to re-earn His love; He has been waiting for them to return so He can once again be their God. Obedience to God’s commands brings life and liberty, but our sinful natures still want to rebel and do life our own way. What a slap in the face to a God who loves us and desires that we would live! The Lord has so clearly been impressing upon my heart that complete obedience is vital to living the life He has planned for me. To not obey is to miss out on His perfect plan for my life.