Isaiah 26-30

There's bad news and there's good news in Isaiah.  Isaiah is sharing God's plan for His day of judgement.  It's full of certainty and promise because God is always true to His word.

But as I often do in this blog, I am just going to be honest.  

The bad news really scares me, all the talk of God's wrath, death, and destruction.  I've struggled with fear the whole time I've been reading Isaiah so far.  

I want to be at that great feast with my Lord and Savior.  I believe in Him.  I love Him.  And yet, the fear, insecurity even, still creeps into my life as I become more and more aware of my imperfections and tendency to wander. 

What is all that about?  What does that say about my faith and faithfulness?  I wonder.  I know I don't completely understand everything I am reading at this point.

I keep reading because I know I need reminding.  I know I need the transformation that comes from Christ and God's living word.  

Isaiah's words about the potter and his clay spoke to me today...

You turn things upside down,

  as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!

Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,

  "You did not make me"?

Can the pot say to the potter,

  "You know nothing"?

Isaiah 29:16

That's me.  I get things upside down.  I forget that I am not in charge, that I don't really want to be in charge because God knows so much better than I do.

As God's people, we are the clay and God is the potter.

EVERYTHING about us is tied to God's handiwork, even our imperfections are a perfect part of HIS larger creation and plan in Christ.

I have to trust that God's grace is more than enough for all I don't know and understand, all that scares me about myself and my life.  Jesus is our living, breathing, life-giving example of God's grace and how it works in the world.

We don't have to be perfect to be with our Lord and Savior.  We just have to let God shape us and use us for His glory, even our perfect imperfections... 

LORD, you establish peace for us;

all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

Isaiah 26:12

Really, life isn't about us and what we do and don't do.  It's about what our gracious and compassionate God is doing for us, in us, and through us.  

A huge part of being faithful, I think, means being humble and thankfully realizing we are God's creation, always in His Almighty hands.  

For me, my fear reminds me just how much I need my Savior.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

I thank You for making me in Your image, shaping and saving me with Your grace and compassion.

Forgive me for turning things upside down with my mind.  You know that about me.  

I am clay in Your hands.  Shape me and form me to be the faithful person You need me to be.  

Fill me with Your peace as I give my insecurities and fears to You.  Use my perfect imperfections for great purposes in Your kingdom for all eternity.

I pray for all of the people Lord, those I know and those I don't, who are fearful and living in insecurity instead of in the peace and strength of Your love, mercy, and grace. 

Help us to remember that all we accomplish is done by the works of Your almighty and gracious hands.

In Jesus' holy name I pray,

Amen

Grace and peace,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.