Wednesday, September 28: Isaiah 30- The challenge of life

It seems every other page of the Bible contains a word about reliance.  What and upon whom do we rely? God lambasts his children for relying on Egypt, for trusting that Egypt will protect them from the approaching Assyrians. Israel did what most would do; they assessed the situation and decided that an alliance with Egypt was their best course of action.

Problem is, they didn’t seek God on this decision. God puts it this way: "Woe to the obstinate children," declares the LORD, "to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge. But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace (1-3).

I have pondered and written about the personal application of a word like this many times. Who/what do I (do you) rely upon in times of trouble, stress and uncertainty?

Interestingly, my thoughts for this morning revolved around the ‘corporate’ nature of this passage. I pondered nations and corporations and churches, groups of people who face troubling and uncertain times. What and upon whom do they rely?

Sadly, the answer seems to be the same today as it was in Isaiah’s day.  They rely upon their best thinking. They rely upon human wisdom. And clearly in today’s world of political correctness, never is God invoked or relied upon in national or corporate decision making. “In God we trust” minted on US coins, means nothing. It is a phrase from a by-gone era, and it may never have truly meant the God of the Bible, Who is sovereign over all. It may have been a deist truncated-god who created the world but then left it to run on its own. (I’ll leave this debate for historians. I have my opinions).

More troubling to me is the church, local and denominations, which seem to rely less and less on the wisdom of God’s infallible scriptures, prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit than on ‘best practices’ and human ingenuity. How sad this is, how far we have fallen, how much like Israel of old we are…

O, God, I fall on my face, confessing I do this., I follow my wisdom and neglect to seek Yours… how sin-filled I am. All I can do is beg Your mercy and seek Your correction so that I may grow more faithful as I age…

And, Lord, in the world beyond myself, all I can do is pledge to seek You as I partner in corporate decisions, whether those of the companies & organizations of which I am part or of my nation. Lord, I cannot control how others come to their thoughts or conclusions, all I can do is come to mine through seeking You and then speak my conclusions as best I can in the forums available to me. Lord, may I do this faithfully to You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.