READING: Isaiah 27-30
“Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion.”
Isaiah 30:18
The Lord is gracious both in His mercy and in His judgment. He takes away that we might need Him. He withdraws that we might long for Him. He makes us hungry so we might seek Him. He delays His response that we might trust Him. He whispers so we might listen more closely. He allows thorns in us—and leaves them there—so we might learn of His grace. And, He disciplines us so we might know both His holiness and His love.
Through Isaiah, God warned His people of coming judgment because they did not listen to His word and instead trusted in others, but He also taught them of His grace. Yes, He would allow them to be invaded and to suffer, but His plan was much bigger than the immediate struggle of judgment. Rather, in a future day, their crops would flourish, streams of refreshing water would flow, and the sun would shine more brightly than ever. And, on that day, “the Lord bandages his people’s injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted” (Isa. 30:26).
I read those last words again – “and [he] heals the wounds he inflicted” – and I’m amazed by God’s unique kind of love. He raised up enemies to bring His unfaithful people to brokenness and shame, to bring them to the place to see that their worship of false idols was foolish, and to raise up again in them a desire to follow Him fully. He wounded them that He might then heal them.
I may not understand fully that kind of redeeming love, but I am sweetly overwhelmed by it.
ACTION STEPS:
- If God is in the process of breaking you, trust His love in the process.
- Thank Him for His healing hand.
PRAYER: “God, I ask You to bandage any wounds You have inflicted in me for my good and Your glory.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Isaiah 31-35
