Isaiah_30

Scripture - What stood out?Isaiah 30:15,18 15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:“In repentance and rest is your salvation,    in quietness and trust is your strength,    but you would have none of it.18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.For the Lord is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him! Observation - What does it say?In this chapter the prophet Isaiah continues to deliver God’s message to the Israelites. Understanding - What does it mean?I love verse fifteen of this chapter. As I read it the phrase “in repentance and rest is your salvation” really stood out to me. Actually it kind of blew me away. Can we really find rest...in repentance? And as I continued to read about how this salvation was rejected I was struck by God’s response in verse eighteen, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you.”Have you ever longed for something? For someone? I have. And I imagined that same feeling I had and tried to think of it as God’s “longing to be gracious” to me. To us all. The analogy likely falls short but it felt like I had a small glimpse of God’s compassion for us. His love for us.  Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?I read the OT and I am constantly reminded of how people, humans constantly found ways to run away from and ignore God - when being in a right relationship with Him was the greatest thing we could have done. But it is easy for me to think upon my own life and how I have fallen short, not once, not twice, but too many times to count.  I think about all the mistakes I have made that burden my soul.

The bible reminds me: God longs to be gracious to you. That’s why He sent Jesus Christ His son.

 

I love you Lord,

-kenneth lee