11 December 2010
Psalm 30, 32; Isa. 8:1-15; 2 Thess. 3:6-18; Luke 22:31-38
The Lord tells the prophet that in the short term things don’t look good for Israel and Jerusalem. They will be overrun because they have trusted in someone other than the Lord Himself. They have forgotten who is their protector, their Lord and Savior, and have made an alliance with the king of Assyria to protect them from their enemies. How often do we do this same thing, either following too much in our own devices and desires of our own hearts as we say in the confession in Morning Prayer, or trusting others when the Lord has promised? Isaiah is told here to have a different mindset and understanding of the world than the people, seeing things of the world differently, due to God’s sovereignty. How would it change the way you think about things in your own life, both those things that cause fear and those things that you believe to be good if you rested in God’s sovereignty as your source of true joy? We would learn to be as Paul, content in all circumstances.
In this short passage we see Simon Peter trusting in Himself and the disciples trusting in swords. In the middle of the passage we see Jesus telling them that when He sent them out they had nothing but faith. What does it mean that satan “demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat?” In response to that “demand” Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail. He has also seen that Peter will fall to this temptation and fear, his faith will fail, but when he is restored he will strengthen his brothers. He will minister from a brokenness that would be difficult to imagine. For the rest of their lives these men will suffer persecution and some will day for their faith, including Peter, and in all that they had only the Lord and He was enough.
Paul gives a corrective to what we often think of as resting in the sovereignty of God. It does not mean that we are to be idle in our waiting for the coming of Jesus. We are to make use of the time and use the gifts and talents we have been given. Adam and Eve were given tasks, tending the Garden and fruitfulness and multiplication. This life is not to be frittered away, it is meaningful, not simply a time of waiting. The problem has become that we believe it to be of ultimate meaning, an end in itself. One error is to be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good and its opposite is to be so earthly minded that you forget about heaven. Christians are to be heavenly-minded, set on the kingdom of God to come, but at work revealing the intention of God and a foretaste of His kingdom in this life so that the world may see what can be.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
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