It’s been quite the year. It seems like almost daily we hear of new concerning or devestating news. Hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, riots, terrorist attacks, dividing elections, and more turmoil.
And all of that in a year where the whole world has been changed in a matter of a few weeks through a lockdown, while we are not yet certain of its full economic, societal or health consequences, let alone when some kind of certainty or stability will come back into our lives.
As we’re approaching the end of this year, 2020 will be remembered as a strange year for many of us. Some of us might struggle to be hopeful because this year was so difficult and dark, and it doesn’t look like it’ll change before the year ends.
So, what do we do when we will have an entire year recorded in our history books as one without much hope? How do we deal with that?
A few days ago, I was reading in Isaiah and I was stumbling across a passage that I think speaks into our circumstances remarkably well.
The book of Isaiah is full of prophecies about the future. Some of them have come to pass long ago, some of them have been fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, and some of them have yet to be fulfilled.
As I was reading, I stumbled across a message that the Lord gave Isaiah in chapter 8. Just before, the Lord was speaking to Isaiah about the Assyrian invasion. Israel was going to go through some dark times, and even though Judah will remain where they are for quite a while longer, it was hard for them, too. Isaiah knew things were going to get difficult.
In all the difficulty they would be facing, Isaiah heard another word from the Lord:
“Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured” (Isaiah 8:12-15 NIV).
Now you might think this isn’t all that encouraging. After all, how is fearing the Lord supposed to be encouraging?
But you know, it really is. We ought to fear the Lord because of how great He is. In fact, He is so great that He can easily shake this whole earth. He can easily reverse a flood, stop a pandemic, or change your situation.
He. Is. God. Almighty.
Therefore we should not be afraid of things that happen on this earth, of what humans might do, because they are nothing compared to our God.
As His children, He is on our side. He protects us, loves us, sees us, and knows us. And even though it might not feel like you’re winning right now, He has the ultimate victory.
Him being on your side means you have the ultimate victory.
That’s why I think the word above is so timely for us, right here, right now.
So let’s not call conspiracy everything that people call a conspiracy, and not be afraid of what they are afraid of. Let’s be smart. Let’s fear the Lord. Let’s put our eyes on Him. Let’s remember that He is in control.
And, as Isaiah himself says only two verses later, let’s “wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.”
I will put my trust in Him.
(Isaiah 8:17 NIV)
