“Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Isaiah 46:8-10
Holy and gracious Father, I offer you no pushback this morning being addressed as a rebel. I not only rebel against your commandments, I also rebel against your gospel. That’s why I need a Savior as big as Jesus. My only hope is in knowing that you will complete the good work of salvation you began in me. Your purpose will stand… you do all that you please, and it pleases you to justify and transform rebels like me. Thank you, a million times over!
I also find great hope today in knowing that your purposes for everything else will stand. This truth is both disruptive and comforting. There are some things I’m desperate for you to do, Father… some things that make all the sense in the world to me—things that seem so in line with the truth of the gospel. But they’re not going to happen.
There are other things I don’t have the faith for which to trust you—things which I cannot imagine coming to pass. Yet like a lush garden blossoming in the arid desert, you’re going to make those very things happen.
Father, help me “fix it in mind and take it to heart.” You are God and you do as you please. No one can ultimately resist your will, and we’re foolish when we try. You’re not a manageable deity… you’re not predictable… you’re not programmable. You are mysterious… good, but mysterious.
As I head into a week of difficult decisions, I’m so thankful that you are a sovereign Father—having equal care for each of your children. I can trust you. I don’t have to panic. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to take matters into my own hands, God forbid. I don’t have to fear outcomes… “what ifs”… or “if only’s’’. Second guessing must surrender to gospel sanity.
Father, help me to want your purposes to stand more than I want life not to be messy. Help me to glory in your pleasure more than I finagle for less hassles. Help me to accept disruption as a necessary part of transformation. Help me not to hide behind a doctrine of sovereignty, but abandon myself to my Father, who does all things well. There is no comfort like the comfort which comes from knowing you and calling you, Abba, Father. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ trustworthy name.