Saturday morning I woke up at 7:30am. I couldn't make it to prayer meeting but instead went to breakfast with Sharon, Nancy, and Katheryn. It was really nice getting to meet people of other fellowships. Haha we ended up all staring at me because they figured out I was a half-ling and somehow couldn't get over the fact.
8:30 was quiet time. We went to our Track room to get the questions which were:
1. What does God promise for those who seek Him?
2.What areas of sin or dissatisfaction in your life do you need to surrender to God?
Our passage was Isaiah 55:1-13
I was struck immediately with how generous our God is. If you're thirsty and have nothing to offer, He'll offer you wine and milk without cost. Not just water but wine which is costly and milk which nourishes. If you are working in vain for bread that doesn't fill you then STOP. LISTEN to Him and eat what is good. Then "you will delight in the richest of fare." Listen, that you may live.
Verses 6-7 was what made me think for question 2.
"Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon."
So, when I saw seek the Lord while he may be found, I knew that the Lord is always there. Why would Isaiah say seek Him while he can be found? The Lord never leaves His people! But I remembered myself. That I tend to forget the Lord is with me, so "while He may be found" is more of a state of heart for the audience. Seek God while your heart is open to Him. When God is working on your heart is when He feels nearest. Sometimes it's easy to close yourself off to Him especially when He confronts you about your sin. So seek Him while he is seeking you and listen to Him while he is near. If the wicked turn and seek the Lord and give up their unclean thoughts God promises mercy and a free pardon. That is a sweet promise. So there on the hill I decided to listen and obey. I am broken and have unrighteous thoughts. Lustful thoughts are something I've dealt with all my life, but at the offer of freedom and mercy I made a commitment to give these things to the Lord. I definitely still struggle and mess up, but it's a slow process. I lean on lust, when I don't trust that God will be good to me. But reading through Isaiah has led me to believe He truly is the only one we can trust. Because He never stops pursuing never gives us less than His best. He is a just God and there are consequences for sin, but there is also mercy and forgiveness. Which is more than the world or anything I can conjure up can offer.
God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Why He decides to feed the poor, why He decides to recognize people who continually deny Him, why He even acknowledges us dust in comparison to His glory, why he steps down to hold us dirty broken close to His heart...it's beyond me.
The end of the passage goes on to describe how when the rain falls it does not return to the sky until it has accomplished it's purpose. So is God's word. "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." The result of this is we will go out in JOY and be lead forth in PEACE. Hills and mountains will burst out in song, and trees will clap their hands. This, the fact that God's word does not return empty that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ" (Phil 1:6), that his word will bring joy, and peace all is a testament to His glory and faithfulness.
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