a new Start???
for your thinking
Advent---a new start? Isaiah 64:1-9
How to begin again? How do we find ourselves caught as it were and then find a way out? The Apostle in I Corinthians 10:13 says there is “ a way of escape that you may be able to endure it.” These were the questions on the mind of the people as Isaiah wrote to them 745-695 BC . The nation of northern Israel was carried off into captivity by the Assyrians. Later Judah too fell. 46 cities were destroyed and 200,000 were taken. There was deliverance from the angel of God in 701 BC . Isaiah, literally, “ salvation of the Lord” spoke to the people about how the situation and how God was truly their only hope. Today we light the first candle of Advent, sometimes called, the candle of hope.
Our nation as well today may be in captivity in some ways if we think about it….wars continue, debilitating debt continues without relief, and we look for deliverance. We look for a change, someone to help. But have we not had these things happened before? The Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock left Holland where they had gone from England because of religious reasons. Their first winter in New England was more than difficult. They left the Mayflower with hope and God in their hearts. They made pacts of friendship with the Indians but not all were friendly. Over half of them died the first year. Was religious freedom worth the risk?
How about our lives? We may think we are alone and that our faith does not matter. Why do I have to struggle so much? Is there an end to this trial? Does God care for me and my family? Where is He? That little light of mine must shine, but it is a very little light . Our lights flicker and almost seem to be extinguished. We feel the darkness.
Isaiah the prophet knew the people’s distress. He begins with a cry of questioning faith, “ O that you would rend the heavens and come down…” Come down and light this little light of mine. Come down O God. I am weary. I am tired, and need you. “ Make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” 64:2 Let us know you are here. All of us have gone through that kind of time. Everything looks hopeless. In desperation we pray, “ God, let me know your presence and direction, for I am lonely.”
There is a place we can start again. We start with hope. “ From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” 64:4 The Apostle quotes this in I Corinthians 2:9 . There he is talking about how the rulers of the age crucified the Lord of glory, and how dark it looked. Yet when we begin again with God we can be hopeful that our beginning has a foundation that will never be uprooted. The verses in John talk about it ,” All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” 6:37 They say that someone who is addicted has to bottom out before they can come out of the addiction. Well if we do that we may not be alive anymore. There should be a flicker of hope for those who are struggling that they can see there is hope . Hope in God alone the Psalmist says , “ from him comes my salvation.” 62:1 Those other things are temporary and they were never going to help us anyway. You know what I am talking about…finances, jobs, relationships. I start with hope. Today I light a candle of hope.
If you and I know someone that is without hope and we have helped them before perhaps we are feeling there is nothing more we can do. That may be true. But we can be an instrument of God to light the candle of hope yet again despite the failures and sins of the past. That is what our faith is all about. So without hope we cannot begin. I hope in God. Perhaps this time will be the time when they too see the light of God, a light that never dies and never goes out. The darkness helps us to see the light. Without knowing how truly dark it is without Him, we will not see the difference.
Then we start with acknowledgment of our issues. “ In our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf.” 64:6 Have you seen the leaves outside? This is how we are. Our bodies are not permanent . They are getting worn out and used up. Then I looked at a leaf that was just not brown but it had green and brilliant red in its colors. We may be losing our energies and getting older but we are beautiful to God. We should get honest with Him. If we do not know the problem, we cannot fix it. That is true in house maintenance , in hospitals and in our lives. What has caused us to drift ? What can we do about it? Is it fixable? Certainly God can fix it. But we have to come to that place where we know He is able to do that for us. It is hard to be honest about what we have done. But outside of that acknowledgment we will continue outside of God’s help and power for our lives.
Finally, I see hope in Isaiah’s prophecy about who God is. He says , “ But now, O LORD , you are our Father; we are the clay, and your are our potter….behold, please look, we are all your people.” 64:9 That is our hope. That should be our prayer. We claim Him as our strength and shield in the trials of this life. One day we shall see Him face to face. I Corinthians 13:12 . Our Father has watched our straying and our inadequacies . Yet He is our Father. That is a great hope. So as we lit and watch the 1st Candle of Advent , we are hopeful . A light has been come. There is hope. Do we have the hope within us or are we still hoping for something else to be our hope?
Advent---a new start? Isaiah 64:1-9
How to begin again? How do we find ourselves caught as it were and then find a way out? The Apostle in I Corinthians 10:13 says there is “ a way of escape that you may be able to endure it.” These were the questions on the mind of the people as Isaiah wrote to them 745-695 BC . The nation of northern Israel was carried off into captivity by the Assyrians. Later Judah too fell. 46 cities were destroyed and 200,000 were taken. There was deliverance from the angel of God in 701 BC . Isaiah, literally, “ salvation of the Lord” spoke to the people about how the situation and how God was truly their only hope. Today we light the first candle of Advent, sometimes called, the candle of hope.
Our nation as well today may be in captivity in some ways if we think about it….wars continue, debilitating debt continues without relief, and we look for deliverance. We look for a change, someone to help. But have we not had these things happened before? The Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock left Holland where they had gone from England because of religious reasons. Their first winter in New England was more than difficult. They left the Mayflower with hope and God in their hearts. They made pacts of friendship with the Indians but not all were friendly. Over half of them died the first year. Was religious freedom worth the risk?
How about our lives? We may think we are alone and that our faith does not matter. Why do I have to struggle so much? Is there an end to this trial? Does God care for me and my family? Where is He? That little light of mine must shine, but it is a very little light . Our lights flicker and almost seem to be extinguished. We feel the darkness.
Isaiah the prophet knew the people’s distress. He begins with a cry of questioning faith, “ O that you would rend the heavens and come down…” Come down and light this little light of mine. Come down O God. I am weary. I am tired, and need you. “ Make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” 64:2 Let us know you are here. All of us have gone through that kind of time. Everything looks hopeless. In desperation we pray, “ God, let me know your presence and direction, for I am lonely.”
There is a place we can start again. We start with hope. “ From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” 64:4 The Apostle quotes this in I Corinthians 2:9 . There he is talking about how the rulers of the age crucified the Lord of glory, and how dark it looked. Yet when we begin again with God we can be hopeful that our beginning has a foundation that will never be uprooted. The verses in John talk about it ,” All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” 6:37 They say that someone who is addicted has to bottom out before they can come out of the addiction. Well if we do that we may not be alive anymore. There should be a flicker of hope for those who are struggling that they can see there is hope . Hope in God alone the Psalmist says , “ from him comes my salvation.” 62:1 Those other things are temporary and they were never going to help us anyway. You know what I am talking about…finances, jobs, relationships. I start with hope. Today I light a candle of hope.
If you and I know someone that is without hope and we have helped them before perhaps we are feeling there is nothing more we can do. That may be true. But we can be an instrument of God to light the candle of hope yet again despite the failures and sins of the past. That is what our faith is all about. So without hope we cannot begin. I hope in God. Perhaps this time will be the time when they too see the light of God, a light that never dies and never goes out. The darkness helps us to see the light. Without knowing how truly dark it is without Him, we will not see the difference.
Then we start with acknowledgment of our issues. “ In our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf.” 64:6 Have you seen the leaves outside? This is how we are. Our bodies are not permanent . They are getting worn out and used up. Then I looked at a leaf that was just not brown but it had green and brilliant red in its colors. We may be losing our energies and getting older but we are beautiful to God. We should get honest with Him. If we do not know the problem, we cannot fix it. That is true in house maintenance , in hospitals and in our lives. What has caused us to drift ? What can we do about it? Is it fixable? Certainly God can fix it. But we have to come to that place where we know He is able to do that for us. It is hard to be honest about what we have done. But outside of that acknowledgment we will continue outside of God’s help and power for our lives.
Finally, I see hope in Isaiah’s prophecy about who God is. He says , “ But now, O LORD , you are our Father; we are the clay, and your are our potter….behold, please look, we are all your people.” 64:9 That is our hope. That should be our prayer. We claim Him as our strength and shield in the trials of this life. One day we shall see Him face to face. I Corinthians 13:12 . Our Father has watched our straying and our inadequacies . Yet He is our Father. That is a great hope. So as we lit and watch the 1st Candle of Advent , we are hopeful . A light has been come. There is hope. Do we have the hope within us or are we still hoping for something else to be our hope?
Comments
Post a Comment