There Is No Other God
Open Your Bible
Isaiah 44:1-28, Isaiah 45:1-25, Romans 14:10-11, Revelation 22:12-13
BY Guest Writer
Text: Isaiah 44:1-28, Isaiah 45:1-25, Romans 14:10-11, Revelation 22:12-13
After countless rave reviews, I just had to see the modern-day movie musical La La Land. Actors Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were charming as per usual, and as they sang and danced across the screen, the audience seemed to buzz along with the energy of the film’s message: Don’t settle. Chase your dreams. Pursue your passions. Follow your heart.
It’s a message that speaks to our deepest longings. We want to cry out in unison, “Yes! This!” We want a life lived to the fullest.
We all have dreams and desires. Our heavenly Father knows the longings of our hearts just as surely as He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). But our hearts can lead us astray (Jeremiah 17:9). It can be a struggle to know if our desires are from the Lord or from our brokenness.
As a counselor, I often hear people say, “If I just had _____, I would be happy.” You can fill in that blank with a job, a possession, a relationship, or any number of different things. We’ve all fallen prey to this way of thinking.
The trouble with putting all your hopes for happiness in a dream is that the dream will, at some point, fall short of what it promises. You get the new job, and six months later you feel restless again. You start a promising relationship, but still feel a crushing loneliness. You lose the weight, but still struggle to see your beauty and worth.
We are always unsatisfied when we look to this world to satisfy us. Only God can satisfy our desires for peace, justice, and beauty. Only God can fulfill His promises. We create idols when we worship people or jobs or dreams, as if they have the power to save us.
Why do we still ache for what God has already promised? Because we live in a fallen world. We cry out to the Lord for justice where we see injustice, and for peace where we see strife. As C.S. Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” We feel unsatisfied because ultimately we are longing for heaven, where we will be in the presence of Christ.
Our hearts are made for the new heaven and new earth, where all of God’s promises will be perfected. But even in this present time, we get a taste of heaven because we live in a time of “already and not yet.” God has already defeated death but His full plan has not yet reached its great culmination. God has already fulfilled His promises in the coming of Christ, yet we still live in a broken world that leaves us feeling unsatisfied. God has already executed justice for all, and yet injustice will linger in this world until He comes again.
When you feel tempted to look for satisfaction outside of God, remember that your loving Father is the only one who can fulfill your heart’s desires. There is no god besides Yahweh (Isaiah 44:6). For now we live within the tension of this temporal world and our eternal home, but the Lord has fulfilled His promises in Jesus and He will come again to set all things right.
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
-Revelation 22:12-13
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.
63 thoughts on "There Is No Other God"
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Is. 44 was a GREAT reminder today for me as an artist. While I love God and want Him in the centre of my life, sometimes I also love the praise I receive for my artwork, as if I did it. As if it was because of me I had these capabilities. No. All good things are owed only to God, and I can not replace my love for art or other’s praise for the love God can give me. God, make me humble, have me serve no Gods before you.
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I agree that we can never be fully satisfied by anything of this world, but often times God gives us passions for a reason, and some of those feelings can come from us not living in His will, whether it be from stubbornness, fear, or the effects the world has had on us. The important thing is to seek Him first, and then we will begin to make decisions that reflect His will, versus our own. We will begin to see when we are doing things for the wrong reasons. He will reveal those truths to us. That does not mean we will never struggle, but we feel more fulfilled when we are in His will. Our passions and dreams are a part of that.
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Yes! Amen
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I love when my response to the Scripture for the day is reinforced by the devotion. This is what I wrote between reading the Scripture and the devotion:
From the same tree, planted by one human being, the carpenter would make a fire to cook his food and keep himself warm. Then he would use the rest of that one tree that he, human being that he was, had planted and create a pointless, powerless image in his own likeness. And he would worship it. As if the tree he planted was powerful to accomplish something for him. As if he didn’t need the food and warmth for energy and survival, but because he had planted, he had used his planting, and he had benefited from his planting, his tree was powerful. I used to think that, in our culture at least, idol worship as described here in Isaiah 44 was irrelevant. But what if it isn’t? Take anything that we value today: job, position, identity, a well-groomed home with plenty of room to wander, peace, comfort, security, nice clothing. We need most of these things to survive and in surviving to give us purpose. Our family needs a job to afford food. We need clothing to walk around as contributing members of society. I am very well aware of my identity as a homeschool mom, etc., etc. These things in themselves are not bad. They are good. They are part of living life on this earth. On the other hand, we can take the good thing (the carpenter’s tree) and not only use it for good, but idolize it. It’s the same thing, approached from a different perspective. We begin to live for our job, for our position, for our identity, for our home, for our comfort and peace and security, for our status-indicating clothing. I no longer acknowledge the God who provided the job, called me to motherhood, allowed the funds to buy the home, placed me in a country of relative peace. I somehow look at the tools He has provided for me to use in my life to glorify Him and decide those tools are worth much more than He is, because I’ve used them well. This simply is not true. Doing so does not satisfy. Only the Maker Himself is worthy of worship. Only He satisfies me.
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Amen. Beautiful.
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Christina, How blessed your children are to be homeschooled by you. You are a woman after God’s own heart and your wisdom abounds…. Thank you for sharing your profound gleanings today. They blessed me….
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I just knew that once I bought a new house I’d finally find the joy I’ve been seeking. House bought. Yep, happy….thankful, but still where is THAT joy I’m searching for? Why do I still feel a sense of emptiness?
It wasn’t until I really, fully, wholeheartedly seeked Him in all that I am and all that I do that I finally felt complete and that joy I was after. Thank you Jesus!-
A good reminder. I live in a basement suite and am itching for the day that I can live above ground and own my house. Reminded to be content because this is the gift he has given– “does the clay say to the potter, “what are you making?””
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I am so restless, i found out some scary news about my mom and I want so bad for God to fix it instantly. However, I know He has plans to handle the situation and is already in action. I trust that, yet it is so hard to not be scared and relying on worldy things.
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May God comfort you, give you God peace, see you through this. This from the Message Bible, end of Psalm 5 may encourage you as it does me:
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Every morning
I lay out the pieces of my life
on your altar
and watch for Your fire to descend.
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