Scripture: Isaiah 40 v 9 - 12: " O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?"
Our God is vast and omnipotent, yet He is close to every one of us. His door is always open, He listens to our voices of praise, complaint or supplication.
If we ask according to His will, we will receive what we ask for. Therefore, always determine the will of God before you pray, and then pray accordingly.
I love verse 12! I think of the size of our oceans and how big His hand must be to fill with one scoop and see the hollows overflowing with seawater. With His enormous hand He filled all the regions of outer space with stars, moons, planets, comets, black holes, sounds, colours and meteors.
He weighed the dust of the Earth, created mountains and hills, making Earth beautiful for us. How Great is Our God! No matter what befalls us, if we honour Him and diligently seek His face, He is always near to comfort us and help us handle every difficulty.
He surrounds us with good people, even if we sometimes find a cuckoo in the nest. Either we can help the cuckoo fit into our family, or if it has its own self-will, it flies away. Some cuckoos try to take over the nest with their own ideas of how much better it would be if they hijacked it and had full control.
It's like the war in Ukraine. That bad cuckoo has made a total mess of it, and created a very bad odour around his personality. He is trying to make a graceful exit but is a bully and keeps firing missiles and bombs at the innocent citizens. He cannot be trusted and new rules must be made to safeguard the nest from being invaded again.
The Lord has given us a strong voice to bring good tidings to people so they are not afraid. Sometimes those tidings are to alert His people to danger, and how to avoid stepping on hidden spiritual mines. They have a way of causing painful fallout if ignored.
When a voice speaks truth it is amplified by Him in our hearts. We have a witness in our spirit that what we are hearing is real and true, to be shared and remembered. The war in Ukraine is a loud, visible true message. When we are under extreme pressure we become united, and our best qualities are highlighted. Persecution creates powerful strengths, endurance, creativity and victory over adversity.
So when sudden oppression hits us, regroup and Jesus will be in our midst to empower us to do extraordinary things. We can overcome through His strength in our weakness. We can say every day Behold our God! Through Him we can leap over a wall!
If we are obedient to His Word these are our blessings!
Deuteronomy 28 v 5 - 10: "Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee."
So the blessings of obedience are very important, and we truly cannot live without them. When we are called by the name of the Lord people will see that we are different. Our speech, our humility, our love will portray us as a new creation. What outsiders do not understand they fear. And attack.
But they will have one line of attack and the Lord will scare them that they scatter in seven directions. Whatever unity they once had will be shattered. Look at Russia today. They are desperately trying to retreat while still trying to gain more ground. They have suffered heavy losses. Their communication systems failed so their top generals had to go to the battle lines where snipers took out at least 15 of them.
The sanctions are crippling their economy. Other countries have shunned them. Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens have emigrated in these past few weeks, as they totally disagree with this war. How the chief cuckoo is trying to save face is totally wasted.
Behold our God in the coming months as He inspires surrounding nations to help rebuild this shattered land of Ukraine. They have am received received massive amounts of help from friendly nations. Their reputation has been greatly heightened by their conduct in this war. Jesus loves them and will bring His miracles with Him.
So never underestimate what the Lord will do when we are doing our very best. He will move Heaven and Earth to bless and comfort us. He will gather His people to surround and comfort the afflicted, to uplift them and show mercy. Not just in Ukraine but everywhere.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your love and mercy. We can shout out to the whole world Behold Your God! They may ignore You at their peril, but we will speak of Your wonders and Your wondrous salvation. In Jesus' name. Amen.