Text: Isaiah 30:1-33, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Romans 8:14
Driving at night in Colorado can be a hazardous adventure. Deer, antelope, and even mountain lions have been known to scurry onto the road at the most inconvenient times. You know that terrifying moment when you lock eyes with the poor creature over your steering wheel and just pray they will move? If only the animal would keep moving forward—then they’d be safe. But it seems that nine times out of ten, they have the worst instincts and either freeze or run back into traffic.
Sometime we have a similar response to danger.
It’s easy to become immobilized by fear or anxiety in the midst of a big decision or overwhelming circumstances. The stress of a crisis can send us to running back to old, unhealthy habits and vices. In those moments of panic, I can all too easily forget that my God is bigger than all the worries of this world—that I can trust Him to lead me.
The prophet Isaiah rebuked the people of Judah for turning to their own devices of self-saving. In Isaiah’s time, God’s people in Judah were terrified of Assyrian armies amassing on their border. They sensed a very imminent danger. Instead of trusting in God and seeking His power and plan, Judah turned back to Egypt for safety in an alliance.
Let’s pause here, just for moment…
They turned back to the very Egypt that had previously enslaved them?
These descendants of Abraham and David had inherited great promises and seen great wonders of the Lord’s blessing and salvation. Yet in crisis they turned to what they could see and remember, rather than seeking God’s merciful path forward.
Why is it so easy to look for help everywhere but the feet of Jesus? Perhaps because we are prone to self-focus. Theologians such as St. Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, and Karl Barth all described our sin nature as incurvatus in se; Latin for “curved inward on oneself.” Because we are imperfect people, we tend to focus inward instead of outward, if we’re not relying on the Spirit to lead us.
When Judah trembled with fear at a crossroads, the people turned inward and backward instead of upward and forward. They turned inward by serving pagan gods of the culture around them and turned backward toward the familiar power of Egypt. But their faithful God longed for them to turn upward toward His mercy, and forward on the path He made for them.
When we are fearful about the circumstances in our lives, it’s easy to turn toward our generations’ idols of success and security, or backward to old habits of self-reliance like control, apathy, or anxiety. But the Lord longs to bring our focus upward and forward just as He did with Judah.
It’s convicting to think of the ways we fall short, but there is good news: we love a God of incomprehensible mercy. He relentlessly called—and calls—His people back to Him. The Holy Spirit guides us in the way to go: the way of Jesus, our Savior.
Kaitie Stoddard is a professional counselor who recently relocated from Chicago to Colorado with her husband. She has her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and is passionate about helping couples and families find healing in their relationships. On any given weekend you’re likely to find Katie snowboarding in the Rocky Mountains, checking out new restaurants with friends, or catching up on her favorite Netflix and podcast series.
“This is the way, walk in it” has been on my heart a lot lately. I feel like I’ve said it a thousand times, but not being in control over the circumstances of my life drives me crazy… & giving God that control is such a fight. For all the things I’ve been uncertain of, I’ve kept bringing that verse to mind again & again & again (shoutout to Annie Downs for including it in her Let’s All Be Brave book, it’s featured in a chapter I’ve went back to so many times). It was great to read the verse in context of Isaiah & being supported by this devotional. God is merciful. I can’t count on things going my way, I can’t count on me being able to dictate how every single thing is going to go, but I can lean into that truth. God is merciful, He won’t fail to show me which way to go (even when it looks crazy & uncertain), & He needs me to keep turning back to Him in all things.
Thank you for this today. I read the scripture and had no idea what it was talking about. Now it is clear. Thank you.
My husband was in the hospital last week, and it was serious. There was a period of time that I did not know what was wrong with him and neither did the doctors and I was so scared. I ran so fast back to my “Egypt”. The very Egypt that the Lord delivered me from some 6 years ago. I acted out in every negative way I could find. All the old behaviors to comfort… but there was absolutely no comfort to be found there. Egypt just hurt me again. And I am so ashamed that I ran backwards. That when my family needed me I was so focused on myself I was useless to them. I am so thankful for His love and His mercy and His forgiveness. I am so thankful that my husband is home, and he is healthy. And I am even thankful for this stumble and the lesson learned. God is always the better choice. It is so heartening to know I am not alone in this, reading through these comments. We all have our own “Egypt”. We have all gone back for comfort. But we all have the same choice to turn forward and upward towards our God! Praise His name!
Christine, wow. Thank you for sharing this. What a strong reminder for us all that we can’t return to those past comforts and that we can look upwards towards God!
– Stormye
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What a timely post for such a hard day. Thank you Lord that you are bigger than the pain and hurt of this world <3
http://www.in-due-time.com
That’s so me… I know the next few weeks will be stressful but instead of drawing closer to God and praying about it I just want to run. When I have a pile of work and time pressure I’m paralyzed when I look at the work and often end up distracting myself with facebook or YouTube. Could you pray for me that I turn my eyes to God and just start the things I need to do?
Regine, praying for you right now! Thank you for asking. Grateful for you.
– Stormye
What a great reminder! Currently walking through a season where fear and anxiety over the unknown couple grip me. But with each day I am placing my trust in the One who is in control.
Isaiah 30:10 really struck me this morning in reading, “who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions…'” The “speak to us smooth things…” Hands raised… guilty. I know I crave what is smooth/easy/comfortable. I know I turn back to familiar instead of forward on the path God has for me. I am really loving this study of Isaiah. I have never read and studied the book straight through, and it is hard and heavy, but it is GOOD. There are so many convicting things… and so much to learn about the heart, kindness, and patience of our GOOD God in the convicting. Thank you Lord for your mercy.
Yes! I feel like through such difficult scriptures, I’m learning just a little more about what the heart of God actually looks like not just want I’d prefer it to.
Love this comment, Kristen. My feelings exactly. And for the same reason loving this study of Isaiah- because, while I believe a study of the beautiful books like Romans is also important, I think it’s of upmost importance to study the “smooth.” This book bumps back and forth between destruction and redemption, and it seems everything but smooth! But here it is, a very important reference taking up its equal space in The Word!
So timely today. I needed this. I had a very anxious and fearful day yesterday. Thank you for the reminder to turn upward and forward instead of inward and backward. I feel like this was written just for me.