When His Nature is Near

“You said,
‘No! We will flee upon horses’;
    therefore you shall flee away;
and, ‘We will ride upon swift steeds’;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
    at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
    like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
    like a signal on a hill.

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

“For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, ‘Be gone!’

“He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, and the oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder… And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water… Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.” Isaiah 30:16-26

Isaiah prophetically describes when the nature of God meets the nature of man. As those made in His image exert their rebel impulses and unwillingness to conform, the Lord watches and waits to respond to surrender. His justice metes out natural consequences for disobedience, He sustains through adversity and affliction, His mercy welcomes the cry and confession of the needy. His guidance, provision, and rest await those who return. His loving nature is constantly nigh, and does not change.

And so with all God’s imperfect children and His perfect concern. We saunter, we boast, we flee His good commands to go and have our own way. He watches our arrogance turn to weakness and vulnerability, and waits to be gracious. O, how He waits, with long-suffering and undying affection. The moment we cry across the great divide between flesh and divine, weak will and unshakable purpose, He answers. He gives help, the impulse to put away idols and find satisfaction and light in Him. His whole and perfect nature thrumming in our mess cannot be ignored, and makes every difference.

What are some of the obvious and detrimental differences between our nature and the Lord’s? How can His presence affect our attitudes? Will we take the Lord at His word and ask for His intervention, guidance, and determination to worship aright? He is worthy of full obedience and trust.

Lord, sanctify my nature to be like Yours, to Your exaltation.