Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
There’s an old adage which says, “Time Marches On”. And another one says, “Time heals all wounds”. Have you found those statements about TIME to be true in your life journey?
Today, as we continue considering the Godly wisdom from the prophet Isaiah written during the ever-darkening days of the reign of king Manasseh, the wicked son of the wonderful king Hezekiah, God speaks to the issue of TIME. In those days, as in ours, it seemed with each passing day, week and month, things in Jerusalem and Judah were going from bad to worse. (2 Kings 21:1-9) Yesterday we looked at Isaiah 42:8 and God’s warning about His jealousy if His people turned away from Him to idols.
And now today this next powerful statement from God through Isaiah: “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you.” (Is. 42:9) Do you hear God speaking about TIME? One of the great claims of the Almighty, Eternal, All-knowing God is that what we know as TIME is irrelevant with God! God exists OUTSIDE of human or earthly TIME.
In fact, what we know as Time was created by God in Genesis 1 when God created our universe. Prior to that only timeless eternity with God existed. The Time God created in Genesis 1 was perfect prior to Adam and Eve turning away from God and trusting in the deceit of Satan in Genesis 3. But that event changed everything. From Genesis 3 on to the present, Time has been the source of decay and aging for everything and everyone.
Fortunately, God designed us humans with brains which can not only process information and learn and think and reason and even imagine and make future plans, our minds REMEMBER the past and that is very important, isn’t it? In fact, I wonder how many times our memories have guided us to make wiser decisions in our present then we did in our past and we averted danger or disaster?
Repeatedly in history God has challenged those who think they are wise and even those who manufacture idols or fabricate false religions to demonstrate their mastery of TIME by predicting the future accurately. In fact, here’s a powerful message from God again written by Isaiah the prophet: “Remember the former things, those of long ago, I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.” (Is. 46:9,10)
Of course, only God can clearly see the future for only God exists sovereign overall and He is unrestrained by Time. I know that’s very hard for us to wrap our minds around, for all we’ve ever known is unchangeable TIME. We can’t stop it; we can’t slow it down or speed it up. We can’t BACK it up and we can’t predict or go FORWARD in time.
But do we see in this powerful verse, Isaiah 42:9 that God, who exists outside of Time, invites Isaiah and the people of Jerusalem, in about 690bc to take careful consideration of God’s involvement in their unique past as the people of Israel? God frequently called His people to LEARN from their past and realign their hearts with God going forward. It’s a very important life lesson for all of us and in fact it’s something I’m trying to do every day with “Walking with Jesus“. Look again at Isaiah 42:9 and do you see God is making three powerful, challenging statements for all of us: “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you.“
First lesson: God says look BACK over history, especially your personal life, with clarity and LEARN from the past, all of us!
Second lesson: TODAY is a transition day, for every day we each are moving. within Time. from our Past to our Future. Live this day as a unique, wonderful transition day.
Live in the Present of this day BOTH looking BACK with understanding and looking FORWARD with anticipation; and especially with clarity of PURPOSE and DIRECTION gained through God giving you HIS perspective of your Past, Present and your Future. Is that how you live each day?
Third lesson: TOMORROW and beyond are known ONLY to God. God enjoys leading His people into His preferred future for them.
But, of course, almost everyone, everywhere, wants to live in control of our own life, especially as we try to chart our future life path. Therein lies the challenge for God’s people… learning to live our lives fully trusting and surrendered to the God who created us; the Lord Jesus who rescued us from sin condemnation and sin bondage; and the Holy Spirit of God who lives within us guiding and teaching us how to live God honoring lives in a world so very much like Jerusalem in king Manasseh’s day.
I wonder what difference it would make in your TIME and mine, if we lived like that? What if we worked at learning the lessons God wants to teach us from our past? What if we lived each day as a strategic day transitioning from our past to our future which is in God’s hands? What if we looked into the future making our plans fully trusting in and submitting to God’s plans for us?
I leave you today with this powerful truth from Proverbs 19:21 and I urge you to memorize it, repeating it often this weekend: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”
A dear friend just sent me this quip from Adrian Rogers which seems to speak directly to my thoughts for us today:
“Our obedience must be intentional. Here, Lord, I submit to you. Inhabit my humanity. Think through my mind. Smile through my countenance. Work through my hands. Love through my heart. Speak through my lips.” Oh my, that’s powerful!
And here’s a wonderful worship song to help guide us on our way this weekend living Isaiah 42:9 & Proverbs 19:21…
Today’s Scripture: Isaiah 42:9.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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