Years ago, I spouted off the too little I knew about the Bible and crushed somebody's spirit. I was showing off. And since that day, I can read my Bible for hours and not retain any intellectual memory of what was read. I no longer remember "addresses" or where to find what. I stumble through as if I've never seen the words before.
Yet, I love diving in deep to this bound library of books, letters, and transformative stories. I just can't remember what I've read. And this has been going on since college. I was an ass and I am paying for it.
But lately, Isaiah has been wooing me to keep trusting in what I read and its trickle-down into my soul and travels of a million miles from my head to my heart.
Isaiah is wrecking me.*
It's not just the beauty of Isaiah 9 that we are saturated with during Christmas, it's 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. It's all of the "Hey YOU GUYS" of a loving father to the "Bad Choice; this is what is going to happen now" of a good father who will do what it takes to raise his kids with love and healthy boundaries.
Isaiah 24:20, Earth staggers like a drunk, sways like a shack in a high wind. Its piled-up sins are too much for it. It collapses and won't get up again. (oh my soul.)
He yells to his kids scattered over the neighborhood and the two little ones hiding from the bullies to come home for a meal around the table:
Isaiah 25:4-6 & 8
Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather, provide a cool place when it is hot…But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun, shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies. But here on this mountain, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will throw a feast for all the people of the world…He'll remove every sign of disgrace. (phew.)
And he goes out and personally escorts the two tiny ones past the bullies:
Isaiah 25:9&10
Look at what's happened! This is our God! We waited for him and he showed up and saved us! This God, the one we waited for!
There is so much that I cannot understand. Isaiah reminds me of how big God is and how little my brain can know.
Isaiah 26:4,6,8
Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing…all the exploited and outcast peoples (phew!) build their lives on the reclaimed land…We're in no hurry, God. We're content to linger in the path sign-posted with your decisions. Who you are and what you've done are all we'll ever want. Through the night my soul longs for you. Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.
A prayer for grace for the bullies even.
Isaiah 26:12
Open their eyes to what you do, to see your zealous love for your people…Light a fire under them.
And this final one for today that just punks my assumptions and the creeping of doubt and stuff and technology that clutters my day (from Isaiah 26:15)
The more life you give, the more glory you display, and stretch the borders to accomodate more living.
Isaiah 27 talks about a forgiving God who gathers his people "grain by grain" and how he invited his kids to rest in 28, "'This is the time and place to rest, to give rest to the weary. This is the place to lay down your burden.' But they won't listen."
Oooh my soul.
"A trusting life won't topple" crushes my pursuit to manage, mitigate, and move ahead. A trusting life will not topple. Trust not super-genius or great beauty or good works or perseverence and determination. Trust. That's it.
So here I sit; quiet and slack-jawed. In awe. Punked by the Almighty through a scrabbly poet-prophet named, Isaiah.
If you get a chance, read the introduction to Isaiah in the Message translation of the Bible. Eugene Peterson, scholar, poet, husband, and Pastor with a capital "P", reminds me of the Parson in Chaucer's Canterbury tales who was "a shepherd the sheep could understand." (I found this copy of his intro to Isaiah online, but it's a wee challenging to read because of a background graphic gone awry. Give it a try anyhoo. You will be rewarded by what you read. It is beautiful. And strong. And grace-filled and hopeful.)
*All verses are from the Message Bible; yep-the one Bono has read on stage and that stands as Eugene Peterson's translation masterpiece.
Hey Allie, Isaiah is one of my favorite books!! Awesome message. BTW, I have a terrible time memorizing scripture or even remembering what I read. However, I can tell you that over the years when I’ve been teaching or needed a verse on a missions trip, God has always, without fail, given recall. It’s really a blessing. People have told me that they are blessed by how much scripture I’ve memorized, and I tell them that it’s Holy Spirit recall, not memorization!! Good is Good!!
Hope you are well!! Be Blessed.