Daily Reading // Isaiah 38:1-8
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 38:8 "Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward." So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.
Wow. The disciples were amazed when Jesus spoke to the winds and they became still. Here is another instance of God demonstrating His command over nature. He put the sun in its place. Of course the sun would obey His word.
I wonder what it would have be like, not just to be Hezekiah and experience this miracle, but to be any other person on the planet. You’re going through your day, like any other day. But the sun seems to have gone backwards in the sky. Instead of setting on its regular course, it seems to actually be farther from the horizon than it was a few minutes ago. Sometimes we get to the end of a trying day and say, “Boy, what a long day.” This was the one time (along with Joshua’s experience) when that was literally true. What a long day!
This miracle done for Hezekiah affected more than just Hezekiah. Miracles have a secondary effect. What God does for me impacts others. What God does for others impacts me. Hezekiah asked for a miracle for himself. Isaiah was used by God to bring a miracle to others and it touched the whole world.
Do I seek miracles more for myself or for other people? Is my prayer list filled with me or with others? Or have I stopped believing for miracles altogether? All things are possible for the One who moves the sun.
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Creator God, You made the heavens and the earth. All things function at Your word. Show Yourself strong by Your miraculous power so the world may know that You alone are God. As You healed Hezekiah, heal our nation today, I pray. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> Isaiah 38:9-22