Daily Reading // Isaiah 37:21-38
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to three times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
Isaiah 37:23 "Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
When the king of Assyria came to Jerusalem with force, boasts and threats, he found himself fighting, not against the Jews, but against God Himself. His insults were insults against God. His battle plans were insufficient because they failed to factor God unto the equation.
On the other hand, King Hezekiah’s greatest strategy was depending on God, not his army or their wall of protection. When I try to imagine this same story with Hezekiah and his army going out to fight the Assyrians, I imagine a much different outcome. I envision many Jewish casualties and a battle lost.
How many times do I fight battles that I wasn’t meant to fight? What if, like Hezekiah, I let the Lord fight the battles that really are His to fight. Even if someone comes along hurling insults and making boasts directed right at me, aren’t those really directed at God, my Creator and Defender?
God is much more capable than I am. Let Him fight those battles.
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Commander of the Lord’s army, please come and fight for Your people. Insults against us are insults against You. Attacks against us are attacks against You. You have never lost a battle, and You won’t start now. I find peace as I put my trust in You. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> Isaiah 38:1-8
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