…And Ye Would Not

Isaiah 30:15   For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Whatever you are facing today, whatever fears, discouragements, trials and pains, the answer to them all is the gospel.  Jesus saves sinners, and it is not simply an exercise of intellectual assent over the matter of theology, it is an ongoing, daily, walking through it all reality of His present to cheer and to guide.  The biggest enemy we have in living out these truths in application is not the world nor even the devil who has been laid low and already defeated.  It is ourselves.  We won’t return. We won’t rest.

Somehow there is comfort in staying in our little mud puddle, picking at the floating bits of crud and decrying how we shall ever become clean again.  If the Lord says something even close to “get up and shower”, we either doubt it was His impression upon us to do so (what, is He setting us up for failure again?), or we just feel compelled to excuse our lot in life (so-n-so pushed me down into it, or I’m just sulking thankyouverymuch). 

Luke 9:35   And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

But do we really?  Hear?

How about when we’re about to yell at our child?
Proverbs 31:26   She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 
or
Psalms 6:1   O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

How about when we’re weary of yet another bathroom to clean (again)?
Galatians 6:9   And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

How about when we feel that God is afar off, oblivious to our trials?
John 14:16   And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever

Hearing and listening and then walking in obedience.  This is the victory in Christian living, and it begins with reading His Word as a priority so that we know Him more.  Let us not be the people who “would not”.  Will you hear Him today?

Peace,