Isaiah

Isaiah means the Lord is salvation.

A few weeks ago I joined BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), thanks to the encouragement from my mom, and am so glad I did. I have been in a valley, in a season of wandering away from the Lord; not spending time in prayer like I used to, not reading His word, not filling my mind and my heart with His truths. In part it was because of children who don't sleep all night causing a tired mommy and me letting "things" and my selfish desire for sleep and rest take precedent over my relationship with the Lord. Why did I not remember that Christ says, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. Thinking I could handle it on my own, I began to slowly turn from God and rely on myself. Have I not learned yet that this never works out? I am just like the Israelites.

This year the study in BSF is on the book of Isaiah. I have not ever studied Isaiah because it always seemed so confusing and not being well versed in bible history, I would get so lost. But these last weeks, Isaiah has come alive to me! God has been teaching me over and over about His character, His faithfulness, His salvation, His unending love for us. I am just blown away by God. In awe, really. The way BSF works is there is a reading for the week, you answer questions from the reading, then you discuss those questions during a 1 hour small group on Wednesday morning and after small group there is a large group where a speaker goes more into depth and then you are given notes with even more in depth about the scripture you read and studied all week. Let me tell you, when I read the scripture for the first time, many times I just have no idea what Isaiah is talking about. You see, I was never good in English or Literature classes and Isaiah is written like poetry with metaphors and going from past to present to future and my little brain just hurts trying to make sense of it. After praying, reading it again, answering the questions, talking about the questions, listening, and reading the notes... all of those layers really help me to internalize and glean the truths God wants me to know. Every day I am amazed at the marvelous things He is showing me!

Here are just a few things that have spoken to me:

• God spoke to His people through His prophets (like Isaiah), often to reawaken them to His intense interest in their lives. He called His people to believe in Him, but when the preferred security by association with people in the world, He sometimes removed their false security so that, undistracted, they would trust Him again.
• Has God removed or allowed something (maybe something you consider 'bad') to happen in your life so that your focus would be turned back to Him and your trust put back in Him instead of yourself? Go read this blog post --> Resting -- and well, there are no words, just adoration for our God. A young woman, a 2 time breast cancer survivor, and now a recent brain tumor, just read her her praises of how faithful and loving God has been. Through all of this she says this... "...and now I can tell you how the Lord has, once again, shown up in a huge way. My heart just loves Him so. His care for me is perfect and evident. And, because of that, I can't help but completely trust Him with Brian and me."
• Perhaps we modern men, women, and children have become so connected technologically that we have stopped realizing the necessity of being connected with the God who rules everything in our lives. God is able to remove all of the achievement that gives the illusion of independence of Him. --- just think on that last sentence for a minute ---
• Isaiah 25:1 'O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.'
• Jesus transforms everything when He is King! --- Is He king of your life? Of every part of your life?
• God will not share His glory with another. --- So who is sitting on the throne of my life? Me or Him? What we do says a lot about who is on the throne of our life.
• Praise is the proper response by those rescued by God's grace! -- In what ways am I exalting God?
• Isaiah 12:2 God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.