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Midweek Devotion and Calendar

HEALING

The message found in Isaiah 40:21-28 sounds somewhat like a parent talking to a child stressing the importance of long-held teachings.  The reading begins with what we might say today as, “How many times have I told you....,”  “Don’t you know by now....,” etc.  Isaiah stresses the timeless truths that God is powerful, sitting, “enthroned” above the earth, equal to no one, the “everlasting God,” and “the Creator of the ends of the earth.”

Sometimes a reminder of God’s character helps us reset our perspectives.  Perhaps Isaiah felt his readers needed a bit of a “talking to,” an attitude adjustment.  Isaiah might have been trying to lift their eyes from their own narrow view and look toward God to see the bigger picture.  We all meet people who seem to have turned their eyes inward or downward and can only see things from one perspective.  Sometimes we find we are the ones with our eyes turned toward self instead of toward God.  Many times when our focus is turned inward, negative attitudes, misunderstandings, and impasses in communication cloud relationships.

The reading from Isaiah helps us remember to notice where our eyes are focused.  What might change if we lift our eyes, stop complaining, and look to the everlasting God, the Creator?  If we hold our gaze on God and resist the urge to turn it back toward ourselves, how might we experience the Holy One in the circumstances of our lives?

The Joy Continues,

C. Archibald Hawkins

February 1, 2012