Isaiah 27-28 The Care God Uses In Disciplining Us

Two things grabbed at my heart this morning.  In 28:21, Isaiah says about God, “He will do His work, His strange work.  He will finish His job, His strange job.”

My commentary says that, since God is a God of love, rising up against His own people in judgment is something utterly foreign to Him, but He does it anyway because it must be done.  He loves us that much!

Isaiah also uses a farming illustration in 28:23-29 that helps us to see the way God deals with His children. 

“He doesn’t continue breaking the ground indefinitely, but stops when it is ready for planting.”  Likewise, our trials are brought to an end as soon as they have accomplished His purposes in our lives.

In the next part of that same illustration, the farmer scatters or plants in rows, based on which crop is being planted.  “This assures us that the Lord carefully selects the discipline especially suited to OUR particular needs.”

Then, in a section about harvesting, the dill is struck with a light stick, the cumin with a heavier one; the wheat is cleaned with a wheel just heavy enough to avoid crushing the grain.  Likewise, “the Almighty uses the gentlest possible touch for our condition, never allowing an affliction to be greater than we can bear.”

Father, I thank You for Your great wisdom, and for loving me enough to know me better than I know myself.  In every season of my life, You know exactly what I need, and if I try to tell You differently, then I am the one who is wrong, not You.  Please remind me of that every time I think that I know better than you, for I’ve sat and watched myself agreeing with You on what’s best for my life, and yet shortly thereafter I find myself doing the exact opposite!  What kind of an idiot does sin cause us to be?

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford