Steadfast and Confident

Isaiah 26
v.9 My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You.

Psalm 61
v.2 Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
v.3 For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
v.4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

The world is polarizing as we watch. It has always been divided into multiple camps; there's nothing new about that. But the divide is getting deeper and the causes are not even between "good" and "evil" any more -- it is simply each group shouting at the other group to say that they are wrong. It is hard to find constructive, cooperative effort aimed at helping anyone. The noise level increases but the understandable content decreases; confusion and contradiction and chaos increases in every direction we look. All we want to do some days is to find a peaceful refuge far away and wait till the storm has blown past.

Isaiah 26
v.20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until His wrath has passed by.

That day of peaceful rest *will* come, but for the moment, our work still lies in the midst of the noise and strife. There is God's justice to deliver and God's enemies to resist, and He has given us His authority to fight and serve on multiple fronts.

Isaiah 28
v.5 In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of His people.
v.6 He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

God calls us to be warriors against the powers that hate God and all those He loves, fighting battles in a war that has already been won, but that can sustain wounds and casualties along the way if we become distracted. We. Must. Focus. On. Jesus. There is no time left for casual or purposeless activity.

Isaiah 25
v.4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

At the same time, God calls us to be servants to the people who hunger for Him, the poor who are oppressed, the widows and fatherless, all those who need and look for justice, sharing and showing His mercy and love, mentoring and discipling them to bring "whosoever will" into the light and freedom of God's kingdom, walking beside them and encouraging them in the Spirit. God will equip us and lead us, but we must know His voice and be practiced with His weapons. We must put on the mind of Christ.

Isaiah 26
v.3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.
v.4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

We can trust Him to keep us victorious by planting our feet firmly on the Rock and, as we proclaim His majesty before the people, He will put to flight the enemy. But we have to stand our ground in the face of everything the enemy sends our way. The enemy has no true power after being defeated by Jesus through the work of the cross, but he is a liar and the father of lies, and they can be convincing lies -- can we tell the difference between the truth of the world and the Truth of the Word?

Isaiah 25
v.7 On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
v.8 He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.
v.9 Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.

O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. Show us the way, O Lord, and let us walk in Thy paths. You make the way of the righteous smooth. Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us. Other lords besides You have ruled over us, Father, but Your name alone do we honor. We wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

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