I recently returned from a one week vacation with my husband in Europe. On the plane ride over, I wrote down these passages that I wanted to write about when I got home:
Isaiah 1: 2-19
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity...they have forsaken the Lord...they are gone away backward.
5 ...ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment...
10 Hear the word of the Lord...give ear unto the law of our God...
13 Bring no more vain oblations...
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land...
Revelation 3: 17-20
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see...
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
In the Isaiah passage, the thing that first drew me in was the Lord's description of what each of us is like without God in our lives: our heads are sick, our hearts are diseased, our whole bodies are filled with injury, covered in wounds, bruises, and putrifying sores which have not been closed, bound up, or soothed with ointment. This is similar to His description of us in the passage from Revelation: we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. These images of myself are very comforting. They really lower the bar, and remind me that I can't rely on myself, which is what I am usually trying to do.
Each passage also gives us directions for returning to God for healing and strength: Hear the word of the Lord, give ear unto his law, rid myself of hypocrisy, wash myself, put away the evil of my doings, cease to do evil, learn to do well, relieve the oppressed, plead for the widow, be willing and obedient, buy gold and white raiment from God, anoint my eyes with eyesalve, hear God's voice and open the door to him.
We are also given a vision of what we can be with God at our side: white as snow or wool; eating the good of the land; rich; clothed and saved from the shame of our nakedness; able to see.
I hope that today at least, I can remember to lean on the Lord for strength.
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