Great Plains Daily Devotional for 11/15/2019

Isaiah 12 

You will say on that day:
“I thank you, Lord.
Though you were angry with me,
    your anger turned away and you comforted me.
God is indeed my salvation;
    I will trust and won’t be afraid.
Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my shield;
    he has become my salvation.”

You will draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.
And you will say on that day:
“Thank the Lord; call on God’s name;
    proclaim God’s deeds among the peoples;
    declare that God’s name is exalted.
Sing to the Lord, who has done glorious things;
    proclaim this throughout all the earth.”
Shout and sing for joy, city of Zion,
    because the holy one of Israel is great among you.

Unless we are involved in a Bible study of the prophet Isaiah, most of us (I would hazard a guess) do not often turn to the words of the prophet with any frequency. In fact, it is likely that most of us only encounter Isaiah’s words as they come to us during Advent and Lenten readings or sermons. Yet, the book of Isaiah is a rich source of praise and prayers mixed with the frequently dark portions of prophecy.

Chapter 12 is a case in point. Here we have a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for God’s salvation and restoration. This brief chapter speaks to me in several ways. When the prophet speaks of drawing “water with joy from the springs of salvation” my mind takes me winging back to my grandparents’ home in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The house had no indoor plumbing, but it did have a deep well with the sweetest, coldest water you could hope to drink on a hot summer day. Singing to the Lord speaks to my love affair with many kinds of music, but especially with hymns old and new.

But, above all, the proclamation that God is my salvation and that I will trust in God and not be afraid is very close to my heart. Learning to trust and to walk without fear hasn’t always been easy. It took me a long time to trust God enough to answer the call to ministry. And, once I did answer that call, I had two major health issues crop up during my years in seminary. One left me with food issues that required my careful attention for several years. But the other left me terrified that I would be blind before I was half-way through seminary. I began to wonder if I’d heard the call to ministry correctly. In both cases, I was led to doctors who not only could but seemed to truly want to help me. Eventually, both conditions were alleviated to the point that remission was achieved.

Through these health issues I learned that God may not bring the answers to our prayers in just the way that we want, but if we place our trust in God, there is no need to fear what will come.
 

Prayer for Reflection

Isaiah 65:17-25
Isaiah 12
Psalm 118
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19