Text: Isaiah 18:1-7, Isaiah 19:1-25, Isaiah 20:1-6, Matthew 10:16-23, Romans 9:14-18
When my kids were younger, they would sometimes hide. I’m not talking about hiding in the peek-a-boo or hide-n-seek sense—though those were games we all loved to play together. No, they hid because they didn’t want to be found. If you’ve been around kids at all, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Kids often try to hide, however poorly, what they don’t want others to see.
I’ve been tempted to do the same in the face of being found out, when the Lord reveals my sin to me. But as today’s readings remind me, God is a righteous judge who will not be mocked. One day, we will all give account for what we’ve done (Romans 14:12), but it won’t be a time to impart information to the Lord—He already knows all things (Psalm 139). Rather than send us into hiding, these truths should lead us to confession, repentance, and ultimately worship.
The good news for you and me—for all who believe—is that though God is just, He is also merciful. He knows judgment is coming, and so it’s His kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). In His extravagant mercy, He seeks us out to make Himself known, even if we refuse to acknowledge Him (Romans 1:20). But when we do turn to Him and pray to receive His mercy, we recognize, as Paul did, that our righteousness is completely in the hands of the Lord:
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
– Romans 9:14-15
Redemption depends not on our human will or exertion, but on our kind and merciful God. In His redeeming us He displays His power in us, so that His name might be proclaimed in all the earth, to those who have yet to turn to Him (Romans 9:17).
The Lord is active and present, working in so many ways and in so many places (John 5:17). But we can easily miss Him. We can drown Him out with distractions and busyness. We can tune Him out like Adam and Eve did, then run and hide from Him in our sin, instead of running into His arms for forgiveness. Even so, He pursues us—working both broadly in the world and intimately in our hearts—to bring us back to where we belong: in His presence. Though we were once far off and lost, the blood of Jesus has brought us close (Ephesians 2:13).
We were made to be found. So look for Him. Listen. Pay attention. Count the ways you see the Lord’s hand at work. Draw near to Him. Seek Him with all your heart, and rest assured, He will be found by you (Jeremiah 29:12-14).
This is the Lord’s mercy to you and me—not by our might, but by His.
Trillia Newbell is the author of Enjoy: Finding the Freedom to Delight Daily in God’s Good Gifts, Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves (2015) and United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity (2014). Trillia is married to her best friend, Thern, they reside with their two children near Nashville, TN. You can find her at trillianewbell.com and follow her on twitter at @trillianewbell.
As Christians we have a radical responsibility to help one another live rightly before Him.. how we encourage, exemplify Christ like living and even correct one another is so vital in the living for Him grand scheme of things.. we’re more likely to fall and hide when we don’t have a good support system cheering us on and holding us accountable.. my support system is a bit on the weak side these days.. but I’m making strides to grow my circle with people of like mindedness.. we need each other for so many reasons.. it’s easy to abuse grace when we are on our own.. to have the mentality that He will forgive me anyways, it’s not that big a deal if I blow it.. the cross reminds us of how big a deal every sin is.. build your circle and invest in one another that we may honor God with our lives and hearts.. we need one another..
I love this!
“Seek him with all your heart and rest assured he will be found by you.” Just what I needed to hear this morning.
So beautiful. I love how obvious the little kids are when they try to hide. Oh how obvious we are when we try to hide from our Father. I am so thankful that he sees us and comes to try and find us, even when we are hiding in darkness. Thank you Jesus for finding me!
http://www.in-due-time.com
What a great message, as I have come to expect each day. Did anyone else see the timely and related message from Klove today?
The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
–Psalm 103:8, NLT
How lucky to not have our redemption relying on us and instead on the perfect One above us. We don’t need to and should not hide from Him. He knows even if we hide and forgives anyways.
Made to be found. Made to be found. Made to be found!
“And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.” Isaiah 19:22
Isaiah 20:1-6~ The people of Egypt saw how vulnerable those in whom they trusted, their leadership, really were. The Egyptians realized that if those who seemed strongest and most capable were able to be humiliated the way Assyria humiliated their leaders, was there really any escape for them?
“When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:19-22
“[God] knows judgment is coming, and so it’s His kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). In His extravagant mercy, He seeks us out to make Himself known, even if we refuse to acknowledge Him (Romans 1:20). . . . Redemption depends not on our human will or exertion, but on our kind and merciful God.” (Romans 9:14-18)
Our just and merciful Creator God is merciful enough to strike us down in order to heal us more wholly into His image. He is merciful enough to use the most barbarian, anti-Christ peoples (or simply the people that believe they are too far gone) to accomplish His will and cleansing and redemption. Our faithful God will place us in the difficult positions to show us the dross of earthly interests and His own great value. Maybe you don’t want to serve a God who loves with tough love. But if you are honest, you would rather hang out with the toughly loved child than the spoiled, undisciplined child. And just like we want to give our children the very best things for them (not always the things they want most), so God desires and accomplishes His very best for us.
I’ve mentioned this before. At times we get distracted by what we feel or the unfortunate circumstances we go through that we lose sight of God’s presence at work in our lives. We try to hide from our sins or from certain situations because for us, it might be easier to cope with then facing it head on. God doesn’t want that though. It’s strange because we should be seeking Him yet He, too, is constantly seeking for us, even when we turn away from Him. God is a perfect example of true love; what is lost will always find its way back to where it belongs.
I love that in what seems like God’s punishment (striking Egypt with a plague), there is also God’s healing. He works all things for good….And in Egypt’s case, their healing is a beautiful sign of the Gentiles being united with the Jews to be brothers and sisters in Christ. God’s healing brings enemies together (Egypt and Assyria), and these places that have caused so much trouble and pain for God’s chosen people are now also called blessed. How awesome! Who are we to say someone is too far gone for God to bring healing? Who are we to say if someone could/should/would be called blessed by God? He breaks through every wall and barrier and pursues us…both the Jew and the Gentile. May we not forget that there will be pain in the breaking of our walls….God did send a plague on Egypt. But in the breaking, we are broken open to receive the mercy and grace and blessing of our Father!
Thanks for this Audrey. Your words have resonated with me this morning.
Yes! This stood out to me too! Not only Israel, but Egypt and Assyria are called a light to the nations. Israels enemies are included! I truly wonder what this means for all our ‘enemies’ today and all the groups we tend to exclude…
Reminded me of an awesome quote by Scott Sauls:
‘The narrow path of Jesus always leads to a broad embrace’
What an awesome quote! Thanks for sharing Lara