Blue Sky
I recently received a note from a friend commenting on one of my blog posts. He sent me a passage from Isaiah. It dealt with a humble and contrite heart.
Isaiah 66:1-2 (ESV)
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
2 All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.
What a powerful passage. Of course, it was in keeping with what I had been studying and still is, but with it, I hit a dry spot in writing out my thoughts. I am not sure what it was that happened. I just was struggling with my thoughts, and then the killing in the Florida high school happened, and the anger that has followed has put me in a strange spot.
Where to Start
In the past six or seven days, I have continued to pray and meditate on the things going on in the world. The thirteenth was my last post. I tried to write something on the fifteenth, but I was stuck, but even though my writing seemed to dry up I continued to see verses and passages that affected me. My friend’s recommendation seemed to be the foundational verse that the Lord kept reminding me of as the time passed. As I would read a verse in a devotional or a passage I was lead to read I would save them. This morning’s writing has been a bit of a struggle, but it has been different, and I felt a need to share my thoughts.
A Humble and Contrite Heart
The first thing I did after reading Isaiah 66:2 was look up the definition of humble and contrite. I felt pretty sure I knew the meaning, but I did not want to assume anything. To me, one of the most amazing things about God is the precision of everything that he does. Every direction he gives and every word he chooses to share is so specific that I want to make certain that I understand it correctly. So, I prayerfully considered these two words and studied the definitions
Contrite was more than I had assumed. I thought broken, but the dictionary included, “feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt.”
Humble was similar in that I assumed modesty, but the dictionary included, “having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance.”
As I said throughout this dry spell this passage stayed on my heart even though I continued to study and as I did I compiled verses and passages that touched my heart each day and compiled them on this note that started my dry spell.
Philippians 2
I do not have a timeline for this. I am just going to put out there how the Lord helped me piece it together this morning. The first was Philippians 2:3-8. This passage put Isaiah 66:1-2 in perspective for me.
Philippians 2:3-8 (ESV)
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
What a powerful example Paul shares with us in this. Jesus WAS God, but He did come to earth claiming equity with God. He gave all that up assuming the role of servant obedient to death on the cross. I read that, and I cannot help but call back the Gospel of John
John 1:1-5 (ESV Strong’s)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John shows us who Jesus is and Paul explains the choice He made when He emptied Himself being born in the “likeness of man.” And as a man living a pure and obedient life willingly sacrificing it for us all on a cross taking away the sin of the world.
What an awesome God we serve. What a powerful example of love and humility we have in Jesus. Yet we so often allow our pride to overrule our obedience to God. The next passage that touched me was in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 12
The passage dealt with an infirmity that Paul suffered. Paul explained that it was so difficult that he had gone to God pleading for relief three times.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ESV)
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
As I meditated on this passage, a Psalm I had saved from another day caught my eye, and it punched me in the chest once I read it.
Psalms 34:18-19 (ESV)
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
I looked at this passage and Paul’s witness and thought about both passages, and I saw a promise in the Psalm that was lived out in Paul when he accepted the Lord responded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
I think of Paul and his many sufferings, and he draws attention to only this one and then this Psalm and the promise that the LORD is near to the broken-hearted.
I look at the example of Paul. Jesus promised that he would suffer for the sake of His name, but He does not leave Paul. He is faithful.
The thing is we must continue to trust in God because His timing may well be different than ours. In verse 19 of the Psalm, He promises deliverance, but He does not set the time or method. In Verse 10 of 2 Corinthians, 12 Paul accepts the sufficiency of God’s grace and relishes in the gift of strength that comes with his weakness. He knows he is delivered regardless of his current circumstances. That is the gift we all share if we will accept it.
From here I found myself in Ephesians.
Ephesians 2
As I looked at what God revealed to me in Philippians, I started thinking about the freedom that comes with the grace and promise that comes with these passages, but there is more than just the promise. There is a change that occurred in me when God opened my eyes to what Jesus had done for me. I like the way Paul explains it in Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
He saved me not by any work that I did but “through faith by grace” and he placed in me a desire of service to Him because I am “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that I may walk in them.” Just thinking of this takes my breath away and increases my hunger and desire for His Word and His way.
Further Reflection
I looked over the verses that God had laid on my heart this past week or so.
Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Psalms 37:23-24 (ESV)
23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when he delights in his way;
24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.
The first two that struck me spoke of how God was there for those who held fast to Him. Those with contrite hearts and spirits; even if we fall or stumble he holds us up. He does not abandon us he revives us. No matter how broken we might feel he breathes life into us and I was reminded of Psalm 121
Psalms 121:2 (ESV)
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
There is no time or no circumstance that we cannot find hope and strength in God’s Word. NEVER will He deny us. Sometimes it is difficult for me to grasp that fact but when that struggle comes, I turn to Romans 8.
Romans 8
I turn to chapter 8 in Romans and work myself to verses 26, let go and trust God in all circumstances.
Romans 8:26-30 (ESV)
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Like this bunch of passages collected on this page, I did not know their purpose until this morning. I had muddled through these past several days confounded by the anger in the world, but God had never left me or turned away. He was there even if my mind was too cluttered to see, and I am so thankful for His patience.
Closing Thoughts
The last passages came in the middle of the week and kind of sum up where I was and how God lead me through the clutter and darkness. The first is from Proverbs.
Proverbs 10:12 (ESV)
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.
How true is this passage? Hatred does stir up strife. The evil in Florida showed the darkest of strife steaming from evil and hatred. It will affect us all if we prevent love from entering our hearts.
Psalms 2:4 (ESV)
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
We watch our leaders plan and define solutions to problems and tell us how to fix the world but refuse to turn to God. If they do, they are ridiculed and scoffed. Our only hope is in Jesus. The only thing I can do is continue to turn my eyes to Him. I will close with this last verse from James
James 4:7-8 (ESV)
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Prayer
Father thank you for your patience with me. Thank you for Your Holy Word which offers the only solutions to the strife of this world. Forgive us Lord for our selfish ways and thank you for the gift of repentance and grace. Open our hearts and minds to Your Word that our comfort may be found there. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.