Obstinate Us

“Woe to the obstinate children.” (Isaiah 30:1)

Isaiah states it, over and over. Whoa! Stubborn, so stubborn. God’s mercy reaching to His loved ones and over and over He is rejected. Dang. They turn away to their own ways. They trust in chariots and manmade hope. Can you believe it? But wait, that’s me and you. BUT STILL….God is determined for a breakthrough. He relentlessly ran after them and He runs after us. I picture a parent chasing a child who isn’t listening. The motive is love, to keep them safe, to keep them in their care, despite the child’s behavior.

A parent doesn’t give up, neither does God.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. (Hosea 11:8)

Do you hear that? His compassion was aroused! His heart couldn’t resist us. I wonder if the Father could hardly wait to send Jesus in the flesh? Tender love, born for you and me. Our hearts need to take this in. The depth of His love, the intensity of His compassion, the goal of His pursuit, the cost of His forgiveness. His very life.

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” (Isaiah 30:15) We’re called to get quiet and put our trust in the right place over and over. We’re prone to wander, to have none of it. Repentance is the Lord’s beautiful tap so we will turn and be held in His salvation. This is His goal, our hearts.

God’s motive is love, to keep us safe, to keep us in His care, to secure us for eternity.

Are we allowing Him to hold us? Awaiting His return? Listening to His every Word? What if we let our compassion be aroused for Him as His is for us? ~ Lent begins tomorrow. An intentional time set aside for this kind of reflection. Rest your heart. Be held.

Amen & Alleluia.

“The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 30:15-18)

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm‬ ‭20‬:‭7‬)