Isaiah 41:17 -18 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren heights, and springs in the middle of the plains. I will turn the desert into a pool of water and dry land into springs of water.Notice what God promises to do. He promises to take the least likely scenarios and situations and use them to provide for the poor and the needy. He says He'll make the unthinkable, unimaginable happen. Thinking back to Genesis 1, God's creation is accomplished through His speech, as He declares something it comes into existence. God states in this Isaiah passage He will accomplish these things, the Creator God of the entire universe loves His creation and provides. Tying these 2 together, God's creation through speech in Genesis 1 and His statement of using deserts to form pools of water, think about what God says about us. We often think of ourselves as spiritually void, empty, broken and worthless,which living apart from God and without Him we are. But for those of us in Him, realize what God says about us, God speaks these things over us. And if He has spoken these things, saying "you are...", God's speech carries power.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Our God
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I'm confused as to why God would promise to help the poor and needy then leave millions of people to die of thirst or from drinking unclean water in third world countries. Do His promises not carry over into modern times?
ReplyDeleteHey- love the question! If you're speaking to the specific context of Isaiah 41, God is talking about the Israelite people and how he will provide for their physical needs during the time under Babylonian rule. I think you're question sort of hints at a bigger question as to why a good, loving, all-powerful God would allow a world to continue on where people die needlessly? I think its important to point out that when God took on human flesh, and lived on earth--he suffered a terribly brutal death (some say the worst death a human could possibly die.) God understands the feelings of pain and loss and understands what death itself feels like. The amazing thing though, death is not the end of the story. God doesn't cause people to suffer, everyday people who love God and follow His calling on their lives are doing something to minimize and eventually eliminate, poverty, sickness and death. Why isn't everyone living in a world with clean water? The world is broken, its in need of fixing and restoration--and its happening all around us. I agree with you totally in that I wish it were completely made new. God is making it new and offers human beings the opportunity to partner in the remaking of the world.
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