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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

 
“I have seen their ways; but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to them, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace to those far and near” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.” Isaiah 57:18-19

The all-seeing quality of the Lord is mentioned throughout the entire Bible. There is nothing that we can hide from Him. Too often we wish this weren’t the case. We have been convinced by the enemy’s attack that we must hide from God how horrible we truly are. We wish we could run away from him because we are ignorant of how abounding his love is. Allow this verse to bring comfort and the make evident the deep love God has for us.

God tell us that he has seen all of our ways. The enemy would convince us that we aren’t deserving of love because of our ways. God offers a different truth and a true hope. He employs the word but. The word but introduces an argument against the one just presented. For example, another synonym for the word but is despite. Replace the word but in this verse with despite: I have seen their ways; despite this I will heal them.

God has a full knowledge of all of our ways: the sinful, selfish, disobedient, broken, crooked, and corrupt ways we have taken and despite all of this he gives us a hope. Despite all we’ve done he still loves us and has a future for us. He wants to heal us. Another word for heal is to make right again. God will change all of our past ways and create new ones. He promises us in these verses to restore comfort to us and to guide us despite all that we’ve done.

Remember that God gives us freedom with his grace. We have freedom from the shame of our past and we have freedom from the self-condemnation the enemy brings into our lives to keep us from moving forward. The enemy doesn’t want us to know the true nature of God and how his love will cover over all wrong, the enemy would rather us be stuck in self-pity and condemnation and view God as an angry judge. There is nothing you can do to change what God has for you except to allow the enemy’s lies to keep you from moving forward and to grab hold of the power God’s grace grants us.

Remember that God is abounding in love and these verses show how truly beautiful and incompressible his love for us is. He sees all of us and still he loves us. To God you are not your sin. He looks past all of the bad surrounding you and sees the beauty he has created in you. Stop allowing the enemy to make you look at yourself through his eyes and look at yourself through God’s eyes. Grace saves us from the condemnation from the world and from our own self-loathing even if we deserve it. God provides the alternative and makes us innocent and new creations.

God promises not only to heal our ways but to also heal our very selves at the end of the 19th verse. God will fix all of it if we are willing to listen and willing to surrender all. Listen to what he has to say to you and stop listening to the enemy’s accusations and your own self-loathing. God’s grace gives you the power to move beyond your past and to be closer to him. Accept that invitation and feel the joy of the freedom he has in store for you!

“I have seen all of their ways and I know them full well and despite all of these things I will heal these people because of the love I have for them. I will guide them to the right path and I will comfort them. Sin has ravaged them and they have been lost. I hear their cries and I will be faithful. I will bring them peace and bring them to me so that they might know who I truly am. I will fix them and they will praise me. I will keep them close to me and they will have the joy I’ve had in store for them since before they were born.”

Father God,
You see us at the core. Too often we hide from you and fear this fact, but today we recognize how amazing your love is. You see all of us and these verses tell us why we need not fear you because despite our ways you still love us. It makes no sense to our human minds but it is what brings our souls freedom and joy. Help us to daily take hold of this promise and to trust that you will heal all the situations in our lives and that you will free us from everything holding us back. Father, there is no one else like you and we thank you for your word. Amen.

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