God is in Control

 

Scripture: Isaiah 43:10-11,13 (NLT)

¹⁰ “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord.

“You are my servant.

You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,

and understand that I alone am God.

There is no other God—

there never has been, and there never will be.

¹¹ I, yes, I, am the Lord,

and there is no other Savior. …

¹³ “From eternity to eternity I am God.

No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.

No one can undo what I have done.”

Devotion:

            In this passage the Lord through Isaiah is clearly addressing the nation of Israel. However, it can be safely applied to us today. Because we as Christians are, in the first place, witnesses to God’s workings in the church for the last 2000 years. All of the remainder of the passage is as true of us as it was true for those to whom these words were first addressed.

            What wonderful words of encouragement these are! All around us the world and our own nation we here news of disasters both natural and man made. The news is enough to make a person want to just stay in bed all day and night. These words can give us such great comfort and courage to face the world each day.

            The world needs to hear from those of us who know this great God who wants to bless the earth and not curse it. We can have the guts to speak out loud and clear about the wonders of our God. Because we are relying on the power of the God who has declared that he will save us. God makes it clear in these verses that we have nothing to fear in life or death because he will be with us. As the passage says God has existed from eternity past and will continue to exist into the future forever. And we can be confident that we will be with him forever. Hear the words below from Julian of Norwich and be comforted.

 

All Shall Be Well Julian of Norwich Deeds are done which appear so evil to us and people suffer such terrible evils that it does not seem as though any good will ever come of them; and we consider this, sorrowing and grieving over it so that we cannot find peace in the blessed contemplation of God as we should do, and this is why: our reasoning powers are so blind now, so humble and so simple, that we cannot know the high, marvelous wisdom, the might, and the goodness of the Holy Trinity. And this is what he means where he says, “You shall see for yourself that all manner of things shall be well”, as if he said, “Pay attention to this now, faithfully and confidently, and at the end of time you will truly see it in the fullness of joy.”