What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. [Isaiah 31:1 (NLT)]
Look! Don’t be deceived by appearances – men and things are not what they seem. All who are not on the rock are in the sea! [William Booth]
Built by her husband’s grandfather in the 1920s, my friend’s house was filled with much of the original furniture. Many pieces (like the restored grand piano) were valuable antiques but decades of use had taken their toll on others. Although the beautiful little mahogany side chair looked solid, a note saying “Broken—do not use” rested on it. Pretty as it was, the chair was useless and an invitation to disaster. Should the warning go unnoticed, some unknowing person could end up sprawled on the floor surrounded by splintered wood.
Some people depend on things as fragile as that broken chair—things like wealth, career, appearance, possessions, power, contacts, or fame. While at first glance, they may look solid and dependable, such things can’t be trusted and, like that chair, can shatter and collapse when most needed. Our circumstances can change in an instant and what we depended on yesterday may not be there tomorrow.
The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with stories showing the danger of putting our faith in the wrong things. Rather than relying on the truth of God’s word, Adam and Eve depended on Satan’s lies; after eating the forbidden fruit, they were evicted from Eden. Abraham and Sarah depended on their plan instead of God’s promise to give them a son. Sadly, the Middle East continues to suffer from their foolishness. Having placed faith in his own wisdom, riches, and power rather than the Lord, Solomon’s kingdom was divided after his death.
When Israel’s King Hoshea formed an alliance with Egypt instead of trusting God, he ended up imprisoned, his people in exile, and Samaria in ruins. When Judah trusted Assyria instead of God, they ended up paying tribute to them for 35 years. Slow learners, when they finally rebelled, rather than trusting in God, they appealed to Egypt for military aid. Today’s verse is Isaiah’s warning that Pharaoh was weak and undependable. In the end, it was God, not Egypt, who came to Judah’s rescue. Both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah suffered for their dependence on idols, other nations, and themselves rather than God; we will, too.
Putting our confidence in the weakness of man and the fragility of things rather than the power of God is like trusting a rickety antique chair; as attractive as it appears, it will collapse eventually and we’ll be left to pick up the shattered pieces. As for me, I’d rather depend on a God who is strong, steadfast, and indestructible than on anything or anyone else! Ours is a rock-solid God who won’t fail us, no matter how much weight we place on Him.
On whom or what do you rely? Is it reliable…as reliable as God?
When we dare to depend entirely upon God and do not doubt, the humblest and feeblest agencies will become mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. [A.B. Simpson]
Earlier this week, I wrote about my nephew Johnny’s baptism in my mother’s hospital room. Because she was at death’s door, my brother took emergency leave and he and I served as the baby’s sponsors in Baptism (or Godparents).
In 1962, my 2-month-old nephew Johnny and his parents traveled 1,500 miles for his Baptism. Because my mother was hospitalized (and soon would be dead), the sacrament took place at her bedside. This was the only time Johnny and his grandmother met and the last time my sister saw our mother alive.
We once had neighbors who left our church for what I’ll call the “church of what’s happening now.” Its members have a variety of beliefs about God and, while they acknowledge a “higher power,” they do not share a concept of it. It could be God, a sacred force, or the spirit of life and there is no right or wrong way to understand Him, Her, or It. While some may regard Jesus as a great moral and spiritual leader or prophet (and possibly even supernatural), they don’t believe He was God and reject the Trinity. Theirs is an eclectic mix of beliefs with each person having his or her own personal truth. Embracing uncertainty, some believe there may be an afterlife and/or reincarnation but, for others, this life is all there is. Although they look to the Bible for wisdom, they also find spiritual inspiration in texts like the Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, and Tao Te-Ching. Our neighbors were loving caring people who believed in good things like justice, compassion, peace, protecting the environment, and the dignity of the individual. Nevertheless, while some of their thinking was correct, their conclusion was very wrong.
Earlier this week, I compared a fictional 21st century Noah with the original ark builder. Although I was told there had been no rain on earth before the Flood, since I hadn’t read it myself, I wanted to make sure before writing it. As it turns out, there is no clear decisive answer to whether or not there was rain before Noah’s day so I didn’t mention it at all.
Devotions of the Heart 