Isaiah 30:15, 18
Spend Some Time With The Lord
For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.”
Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.
In my times of reading the Bible this past week I have been noticing more than usual that God is continually being praised for being a God of justice. Every verse has been that He will bring down the oppressor and those who rob the poor and who deal unjustly with their fellow men. Just making it clear that the wicked will not go unpunished and those who try to keep His laws will not go unrewarded. Verse after verse says, Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord! Rejoice in the Lord for He will raise up the humble and do good to those who have placed their trust in Him! Each verse speaks so confidently of God that He is faithful and will defend the oppressed and bless the righteous.
“How blessed are all who long for Him.” Do you find yourself thinking about the Lord a lot during the day or are you someone who is just realizing right now that you almost never think about Him at all unless something goes wrong in your life and you want it fixed? There is a big difference between those who long for the Lord and those who just need something fixed. Imagine the garage mechanic, who you only see when your car breaks down and sure you appreciate the work he does in keeping you mobile. He helps you to be able to carry on with your life with no delays, but that is as far as it goes. As long as everything is working you are fine without him in your life.
God is someone who actually wants to be completely involved in your life. Every part of it. He is not far off, and keeping Himself out of your life. He is patiently waiting for you to come to Him. He is not the mechanic. He is a best friend full of wisdom, advice, and amazing plans. He is a shoulder to cry on, an ear that will listen as you pour out your grief. He can comfort a weary heart and if you are close to Him you can actually feel the warmth of His comforting arms as He puts them around you. He can put the pieces of whatever mess you have made back together. He is the best friend you could ever hope to have and never is at a loss when you bring Him your problems.
If you have not made Him your best friend, He is longing to be part of your life. These verses tell the simple path to having Him as your best friend.
Now, to seek Him out, you must let go of your pride and every thought of how good a person you think you are or even how bad a person you think you are. So many people won’t come to the Lord because they think they are to bad for Him to want them. He says, “Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore waits on high to have compassion on you.” If you simply say, “Lord I’m sorry for my sins, please help me to keep Your laws.” He will come quickly to you and establish the wonderful relationship He has for you. He longs to be your best friend. “How blessed are all those who long for Him.”
The Lord has such a simple and yet marvelous plan for people. He wants to love them and raise them up to be His friends. Such a simple concept and yet so few people will take Him up on this blessing He has for them. Those of us who already know the Lord, still have such little understanding of the blessing of having Him as our best friend! We are continually putting Him to the side in pursuit of other things and neglecting the best gift ever for the sake of other things that will pass away. I was marveling the other day at the beautiful trees changing color and how God designed each one to grow from a little seed with the entire blue print of their size, shape and color all packed inside. Truly a marvel! The truth is that we are not smart enough to appreciate and know what is truly going on inside of all the things He created, to marvel at them. If we were we would be beyond amazed at every little detail of this world. Our God is a genius! Did you know that He covers a tree with thousands of little solar panels called leaves that bring forth and produce all the energy for the tree? Then when they are not needed they fall off and regrow in the spring. There is more amazing design in one leaf than we could possibly take in and yet these marvels happen in every area of creation! Now tell me, doesn’t that make you want to get to know our God better? He is offering Himself as our closest companion!
Let’s spend some time with Him today! :)
