Soon after, still yearning for spiritual depth, I began reading Isaiah.  When I got to the passage above, I stopped reading through the book of Isaiah, and contemplated the words of Isaiah.

6-7Seek God while he’s here to be found,
pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

8-11“I don’t think the way you think.
The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Isaiah 55:6-7, The Message

While I try to keep God in the middle of my life, I don’t always succeed as evidenced by my lack of posts for the month of September.  This past month has found me consistently distracted from spiritual contemplations.  I’ve been focused on work and trying to get better at what I do.  My work is always on the computer, so it often turns out that computer=work and thus the reason for my lack of postings.

But this post is not merely about how I’ve not been posting.  It’s more about how I’ve not been looking for God where God is easier to find.  Yes, God is completely beyond limits…limitless.  However, it’s quite unlikely that I’ll see God’s presence and influence in the midst of research or computer work.  Therefore, I need to look for God where it’s easier for me to see God.

Then when I go to the places where it’s easier to feel God’s presence, it’s kind of mind blowing how I feel more whole, content and welcomed.  As spiritual beings it almost feels like coming home and being loved regardless of where one has been.  It’s like a sunny day.  It’s like coming up for air.  Maybe this is part of what the author refers to as God’s forgiveness.  God just wants me–flawed as I am, God just wants me to live through those things that help to rise above the mundane.  The positive energy of God gives me the “it’s good you’ve come back home” feeling.  That’s mercy.  That’s forgiveness for the wayward child that I tend to be.

What I found interesting was right after the words on God’s mercy and forgiveness, there’s the declaration that our ways are different from God’s.  I couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t just about how God is divine and I am created being (although this is very much true).

But, if I think about it, and am honest with myself, the “lavish forgiveness” and love that goes along with God’s unlimited mercy tends to be a bit far away from my daily grind.  My version of ‘lavish forgiveness’ often is nothing more than tolerance.  When it comes to mercy, sometimes my version is unfortunately not much more than ‘I’ll deal with it’ or some level of acceptance, like, ‘this is just the way it is.’

God’s version IS so much more.  God’s mercy is abundant and overflowing.  It’s higher than the sky and deeper than the ocean.

This morning, I couldn’t help but be drawn to these words that hadn’t underlined the first time around…words that didn’t ‘jump out at me’ before.

“The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. ~~Exodus 15:3

The American Heritage Dictionary defines warrior as,

“one who is engaged in or experienced in battle; one who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflict.”

To be honest, I don’t really want to think about war, conflict or battles. I don’t want to think about lives being lost and people suffering. I don’t want to think about the atrocities that inevitably accompany wars.

But here in Exodus 15, the Israelites are singing praises to God as a warrior. They have witnessed God as a warrior right before their eyes as they’re delivered from oppression under the Egyptians. Just as the Egyptians were catching up to the Israelites, God uses Moses to part the Red Sea ensuring safe passage for the Israelites. They’re seeing the battle play out. God is victorious.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners–Isaiah 61:1

Then a little further on in the story, the Israelites move into the wilderness and have trouble finding drinkable water. They’re not happy. So, they complain to Moses. This prompts Moses to call out to God who instructs Moses to toss a piece of wood into the water that wasn’t fit to drink. This simple act of tossing the wood into the undrinkable water purifies it so the Israelites can drink. After this, He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.” ~~Exodus 15:26

God is a Warrior. God engaged in the battle with the Egyptians and won. But what about the Israelites? In Exodus 15:26, the Israelites have something to think about…they can do what is right in the sight of God and follow His commandments…if they do, they will not be subject to the same diseases that had such an impact on Egypt. God is also the Healer.

The reality is that a war was raging then, and a war is raging now, God is continually engaged in the battle for our hearts–and He’s engaged aggressively and energetically.

God as the Warrior fights for our hearts.

John Eldredge in his book, Waking the Dead, says it this way…

“The story of your life is the story of the long and brutal assault on your heart by the one who knows what you could be and fears it…If we are in an epic battle, then the language of the Bible fits perfectly. Things are not what they seem. We are at war. That war is against your heart, your glory…”

God as the Healer, wants to purify our hearts.

When the piece of wood was tossed into the water, the water was purified. And when we allow the reality of Jesus’ ultimate act of love on the wooden cross into our life, we open the door for the Great Healer to purify and mend our broken hearts.

©2005 ginny rogers

Today being Good Friday, I couldn’t help but think about Jesus and the cross. In the past, I’d often read the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, but today, I found myself going to verses out of Isaiah written hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth. As I read the words in Isaiah, I began to see another way how Jesus bridges the Old and New Testament, even more importantly, how Jesus is the promise fulfilled.

I was in absolute awe when I read, “He grew up…like a tender shoot, and like a root of dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2) because when I read these words, I was reminded of Jesus’ temptation in the desert wilderness and that he prevailed over every temptation. It’s written that the temptation came just after Jesus was baptized when the Voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 3:17-4:1, NRSV)

I became heartbroken when I read that “He was despised and rejected by men…a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3) because of His willingness to carry our sorrows and pain despite being rejected by the people He loved. Even Peter, whom Jesus called “The Rock,” denied knowing Jesus. Jesus took all of “our infirmities” and carried “our sorrows.” (Isaiah 53:4) And all of that pain and suffering was intense, so intense that Jesus said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Matthew 26:38, NIV)

And then Jesus “was pierced for our transgressions” when each nail pierced his hands and feet…”crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). Then “darkness came over all the land” and at “about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’” (Matthew 27:45-46) But God had not forsaken Jesus for God also suffered on that cross with “His Beloved.”

“The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) It’s by all of Jesus’ wounds that we are healed…His crown of thorns, the beatings Jesus suffered at the hands of His captors, His nail-pierced hands and feet, and the spear in His side—through all of that pain, we were set free.

Jesus fulfilled what had been written hundreds of years before he graced this earth with His presence.

And then on the third day…

© 2005 Ginny Rogers