"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax cold like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."
Isaiah 51:6
This verse has some extreme comparisons. It asks us to look at the heavens and the earth, and to us those things are consistent and trustworthy. We expect them there, and it would be difficult to imagine them gone... certainly if we did imagine that we would likely also imagine our own demise along with it.
So God, through Isaiah, has us consider some of the most reliable things in our lives, and then tells us that they will be gone. That's huge, and adding that "they that dwell therein" are going to die, that's somewhat disheartening since that's us. However, then he comes back with the fact that his salvation will be forever. That's us too, so even in this disaster scenario with heaven and earth gone, somehow we will be okay, because God is our solidity and our consistency. His righteousness will never be gone like the other things.
I like this, not because I look forward to the heavens and the earth vanishing, or getting cold, but because I like the lesson here that hits even harder than normal. We can *always* trust in the Lord. We can compare him to the arm of flesh and he wins out every time, but when we are comparing him to planets and the heavens, which could include all of those stars out there that we see, that's jumping the comparison level up by a lot. The lesson is the same though... God is where we can place our trust. He will be there when no one else and nothing else will be, and with him we can have hope and peace and joy. Today, let's trust in him, above all else.
Isaiah 51:6
This verse has some extreme comparisons. It asks us to look at the heavens and the earth, and to us those things are consistent and trustworthy. We expect them there, and it would be difficult to imagine them gone... certainly if we did imagine that we would likely also imagine our own demise along with it.
So God, through Isaiah, has us consider some of the most reliable things in our lives, and then tells us that they will be gone. That's huge, and adding that "they that dwell therein" are going to die, that's somewhat disheartening since that's us. However, then he comes back with the fact that his salvation will be forever. That's us too, so even in this disaster scenario with heaven and earth gone, somehow we will be okay, because God is our solidity and our consistency. His righteousness will never be gone like the other things.
I like this, not because I look forward to the heavens and the earth vanishing, or getting cold, but because I like the lesson here that hits even harder than normal. We can *always* trust in the Lord. We can compare him to the arm of flesh and he wins out every time, but when we are comparing him to planets and the heavens, which could include all of those stars out there that we see, that's jumping the comparison level up by a lot. The lesson is the same though... God is where we can place our trust. He will be there when no one else and nothing else will be, and with him we can have hope and peace and joy. Today, let's trust in him, above all else.
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