Discover His heart: He waits for us to come to Him so that He can show His love
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, our thoughts are turned to those we love and the ways we will express our love. Capitalists that we are, we have turned this sentiment into a multi-billion dollar enterprise – chocolate, flowers, diamonds…and again I say chocolate! In step with this focus on love, television programming is filled with love stories to touch our hearts and to remind us of our own love story.
A familiar story is one of unrequited love where the dear young man desperately loves the young woman who seeks after the more dashing or successful men in her life and ignores his adoration. Or another story is where the young woman, listening to her biological clock, becomes impatient in waiting for the right man to come along and almost marries Mr. Wrong. Fortunately, with television movies of this nature, love sweeps in at just the right moment and everybody lives happily ever after. (Sigh) In our reading today, Isaiah talked about God’s unrequited love for an impatient nation, a love deeper than Hollywood could ever imagine.
@ Isaiah 30
“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’” (15-16) As the advancing Assyrian army threatened Judah, God asked them to rest in Him, and in due time He would deliver them, but Judah was impatient. Time was ticking away, and they considered an alliance with Egypt. This response reminds me of an impatient young woman, her biological clock and unfortunate alliances.
“So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.” (18) Here was a compassionate God waiting for Judah to fall in love with Him, to stop looking to others for love and protection. Unrequited love.
If they would once again fall in love with God and not turn to others, He would love and protect them beyond their wildest dreams. “He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries…he will still be with you to teach you… Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.” (19-21) Their gracious God who loved them so dearly would answer, teach and guide if they would only turn to Him, forsaking all others.
And what a great message for us in the climate that we live in today! Instead of turning in panic to unknown sources for our answers and help, God asks us to patiently wait for Him to respond to our hearts cries. He will be gracious if we will ask for help. He will respond to our cries and teach us along the way as we wait on Him. He will direct our steps on the very best path and at the perfect moment in time.
When we are tempted to turn to others first for help, He waits for us to come to Him so that He can show His love and compassion to us and be gracious to us. A sovereign God, so full of love, created us to be the recipients of this great love – He only has eyes for us! How can we resist so great a love? How can we make Him wait?
Moving Forward: As I patiently wait on Him today, I’ll listen for His voice right behind me, directing my path. I love Him so.
Tomorrow @ Matthew 14-16
Phyllis Benigas 