By David ReayThursday 11 Jun 2015LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Isaiah 30:15-16
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord,
the Holy One of Israel,says:
“Only in returning to me
and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
16 You said,’No,we will get our help from Egypt.
They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’
But the only swiftness you are going to see
is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you! (NLT)
We seem to live in a world where many people,including ourselves,talk of how busy we are. Or maybe boast about how busy we are! Of course we are to be active as our health allows,and of course we are not to be idle or lazy.
But what if some,at least,of our busyness is a sort of escapism? A means of avoiding the deeper questions of life about our identity and our value and our destiny? What if we are viewing our activity as a mark of our worth and measuring our value by how busy we are?
Even more seriously,what if all this busy rushing around is keeping us from getting our marching orders from God in the first place? This is what was happening to the Israelites at the time of Isaiah. They were frantically trying to stave off disaster by rushing into alliances with Egypt which would prove futile. They were so busy trying to protect themselves that they forsook the only one who could protect them.
No wise person would advocate sitting around the place doing nothing all day. But it is not at all wise to be so busy that there is no time for deep reflection on our life in God. As the old saying goes,only as we cease our restless doing will we find out what really needs to be done.
Blessings
David Reay