God has an adventure for us. These words were shared this morning & I desperately long to claim this perspective for my personal life. All of life's uncertainties, all it's perpetual changes...all its' topsy-turviness...it is an adventure & it's God's gift to us. I am choosing now to accept this as my perspective, foresaking the habitual perspective I have had my entire life with its root in fear.
Accepting and taking on this perspective will be a daily choice. Living in faith & not fear means dependency upon Him as no other time in my life, allowing Him to transform me, & a daily commitment to prayer as I daily seek Him, His wisdom, understanding, and eternal perspective. How thankful I am that He ordained it to be that I study Isaiah this past year! How timely for my personal faith-strengthening! How equipped to walk through these upcoming dark days of change & uncertainty with the light of His Word tucked away in my heart & mind, and the growing courage to stand for Him when faced with untruths.
Allow me to share some of the principles & truths I have learned while studying Isaiah:
*I am bolstered by the reigning theme that He is SOVEREIGN. His purpose stands & He will make known the end from the beginning (Is 14:24, 27; 46:10)
*Every day we must choose to go forward with focused faith in God or become paralyzed in focused fear of our circumstances. (Is 8:11-22)
*God calls His faithful people to view life through the lens of His character rather than the lens of circumstances. He is infinitely bigger than our circumstances.
*Looking back on God's faithfulness renews our courage to go forward. Recalling His faithfulness is a great place to start in prayer.
*By raising our situation to Him we are recognizing His sovereignty in our lives.
*In the midst of change & uncertainty, God is in control. (Is 14:24-32)
*He will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him. (Is 26:3)
*Through reliency on Him we can cast out all fear, trusting in Him, His ways, His Truth, His guidance, & His direction (Is 48:17)
*Through the power of His strength, we can take a stand (Is 7:9)
*His ways are always bigger (and better) than our ways (Is 55:8-9)
*He will sustain us, carry us; & rescue (Is 46:4)
*Knowing the Sovereign Lord helps us, we will not be disgraced. We will have to set our faces like flint, knowing that we will not be put to shame. (Is 50:7)
*We need to awaken & clothe ourselves with the Lord's strength (Is 51:9), allowing gladness & joy to overtake us, with sorrow & sighing fleeing away (Is 51:11)
*We need to keep our focus on Him, our Comforter, and not fear mortal men (Is 51:12)
*Praise that our Lord hems us in...He goes before us & He is our rear-guard (Is 52:12)
*Let us delight greatly in our Lord, with our souls rejoicing for He knows what is best for us & He will direct us to what is good...His good, pleasing, and perfect will (Is 61:10; Romans 12:2)
It is a time to come near & listen to our Lord as we grapple with the unfolding situation of our denomination falling prey to our prevailing culture. Things may look dismal, bleak, scary, & altogether broken, however, God is a God of restoration and renewal. God is a God who is Sovereign & in control. To His character we turn, to His guidance & wisdom we listen & adhere. To Him we send up our fervent prayers to strengthen us as we endure the repercussions of our prevailing culture impacting our denomination in such a fiercely negative way. May we all find our voice and take a stand as God directs. May we all be wise enough to listen, and fervently pray. May we remember to cover our leaders with prayers to be given the ability to discern what the next step is that God is asking us to take. May we all be encouraged as God grows us through another one of life's adventures.
