March 28, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.” (Isaiah 57.13)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

When I read this scripture I am reminded of a illustration which Jesus used to address this faulty kind of thinking which humanity has used throughout history. The faulty thinking is that we, human beings, are able to attain the level of “life proficiency” by the works of our hands and the mental constructs of our choosing. Jesus taught about a man who built his house on sand. It was quite possible that He was referring to a destroyed house found by the Sea of Galilee. The failure of its builder was pointed out that it actually had no foundation. It was a structure set upon sand. The sand would shift and the house would move. In the wind and storm with the rise and fall of waves, the house had nothing to hold it in place. It was not a “stronghold.” Perhaps it was never intended to be a permanent dwelling. In all of that, there is a lesson to be learned and applied to one’s viewpoint on life. That lesson is to assess the worthiness, the trust-worthiness, of what we choose to build our lives with and upon. Jesus went on to speak of a man who built his house upon a firm foundation like a solid rock. The building would be rooted into the rock. It would have strength and viability to withstand the “storms of life” which would rise against it. The work of that person had integrity as a “stronghold” because it had a strong hold on the rock. Of course, we can see how such an illustration would lead in the direction of being a person who built their life upon the rock of faith. Jesus called Peter, upon his profession of faith, “a rock upon which I will build My Church.”

What is being addressed here is two kinds of thinking: shallow and deep. For Isaiah, God was speaking about those who had shallow thinking putting their faith in moveable objects. Their minds would change as the next “best idea” came along that would serve their own purpose. Even the idols they worshipped had little consistency (substance) and consistency (durability through time.) They could and would be easily cast aside because they were dysfunctional and inept. They were nomadic in the faith moving from this place to this place hoping to find a dwelling place that met their “in the moment” needs, wants and desires. It is little wonder why God declared “My ways are not your ways, nor My thoughts your thoughts because My ways and thoughts are higher than yours.” It is no stretch to say in from the opposite position as “…your thoughts and ways are lower than mine.” Here is the fatal flaw in the thinking of many people, communities and institutions: lower and lowered standards. In the attempt to find inclusion we do not raise the bar but lower it. We are willing to be less discerning and more affirming of what is authentic and durable truth with the hope of finding a truth to which we all can and will agree. And what is it that we might hear the most often? Is it not “Well, let’s just agree to disagree.” How can we have authentic community when we are a collection of disagreements and disagreeable people. The hope is not authentic community but a confederation of individuals who take comfort in being alone and on their own. That sounds a lot like “hell” to me.

But let’s go “deeper.” Consider those whose purport their trust is in God. They save they have faith and believe in God and that He is the sustainer of truth and authentic community. They will point out the fact that they are building on a firm foundation. What we find is that they are setting their lives “on the foundation” but they are not rooted into it. They haven’t drilled down and become attached as one with the foundation. They are “in touch” but not truly connected. They fall prey to the same failure of those who build upon the sand. They don’t mind getting “next to” God but they are not truly “into” God. We see that addressed in the gospels where the teachings of Jesus became hard, challenging and demanding of change. When it became too tough, they left just as we saw with the rich young ruler. It is in those moments that we see what they really trust in and what they have truly idolized. Perhaps it was this kind of thinking which existed somewhere between the shallow and deep thinking mentioned above. They are the “in betweeners” Jesus mentioned in His revelation to John the Presbyter saying “Be hot or be cold but do not become lukewarm lest I spew you from my mouth.” (Revelation 3.16) They are not fully committed nor wholly invested; or should I say not “holy” invested. God was seeing those individuals among the people of Israel, too. They wanted their cake and eat it, too. They tried to live in the best of all worlds. They held on to the tenets of faith which suited them. They adopted the tenets of the world which surrounded them, especially that of foreign nations, which pleased them. In trying to “have it all,” they had nothing to show for it that had true substance. When the storm would rise up, they would fall away.

Now we can here God’s word in verse 13 that addresses those who put their trust in God and followed His ways. It did not lessen the brunt of the storm of sin and doubt which blew against them as it did everyone else. It did guarantee survival and endurance. The storm, like the judgment of fire, would strip away what was not needed or necessary and leave what was permanent. While we may hate “losing” those things, how glad are we to know what endures and the peace it brings to us to know that God has provided all that is needed. How? Because we put our trust in the Lord and put our whole selves (heart, mind, body, soul, strength) into the effort of living for and with God. There is more. Jesus taught “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all that is needed will be provided.” These are the benchmarks of truly building on the solid rock of faith. It is not by being situation on the rock but by becoming a part of the rock united in faith, hope and most of all love. Yes, love of God first. Without that then little else matters. Those who felt the brunt of God’s “justice” complained that God was absent to them because all their “things” were taken away. Those who understood the fury of God’s wrath and the power of His commands trusted the nearness of God and the promise of being one with Him.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free from death. So may we live by the name of Jesus our Christ. AMEN.