Knowing what’s best

DAILY BYTE

Sometimes we know exactly what’s best for us. For instance, I was certain that seminary was the wrong - absolutely, unequivocally wrong - choice for me about one week after I began classes. But a good dose of stubbornness and an unwillingness to lose already paid tuition made me hang in there. And, ill-fitting though it sometimes seems, the discomfort has turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Have you ever tried to tell someone what was best for them? It’s the worst when you can really see that they are going to make a bad choice. It can be such a frustrating situation.

The prophet Isaiah understood our plight. Most of us know the song, “Here I am, Lord”. It’s a beautiful song relating Isaiah’s response to God’s call. Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me!” What a courageous response! Isaiah, like all of the other prophets in the Hebrew Bible, had a hard job ahead of him. In chapter 6, God instructs Isaiah to prophesy to a people who’s ears would be stopped and who’s eyes would be shut — they wouldn’t know where salvation was if it was standing right in front of them. God’s people would be deaf and blind until their cities were wasted and their land completely desolate. Talk about preaching to a tough crowd!

At the time Isaiah was prophesying, the Assyrian invasion had devastated Israel, destroying everything but Jerusalem. Israel had pestered God for a king so that they might feel safe and be like the other nations, but with a king they found themselves dominated by one foreign power after another. The glory days of David were over and there was no wise Solomon to be found. The poor and needy were the most vulnerable. Isaiah chapter 10 tells us that the ruling elite were issuing iniquitous decrees, writing oppressive statutes, denying the needy justice, robbing the poor and taking advantage of the widows and orphans. Resources were in the hands of a few and housing and medical care were not available to those that most needed it. Sound familiar?

The poem we looked at yesterday about the peaceable kingdom might have been composed around the time of King Hezekiah’s coronation. Many of the visions promise domestic bliss -things that we all hope will come to our country, and which we often have renewed hopes for when a new leader is inaugurated. Israel was just like any other people. They wanted a good king who would have their best interests in mind.

This king, however, was different... Israel thought they knew what was best when they demanded safety through power and military force. God, who really knows what’s best, promised them safety through a king who feared the Lord and protected the meek and lowly.

How might our legitimate and good desires get in the way of what God has in store for us? How might our ears and eyes be shut to the salvation that is being offered?

PRAY AS YOU GO:

Lord, help us to be open to Your will and Your desires for us. Grant us the ability to see your blessing in the places we least except them. Help us not to get in the way of Your good work.

SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 11:3-4

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.