Even If!

Even If!

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Isaiah 54:10 KJV

When I read verses like today's extract, I am reminded of the power, might and mercy of the God who calls me into a relationship with Him. The whole of this chapter is a brief window into the mind of God; the One who hates sin but Ioves the sinner, and who gets angry and can punish, but can also show incomparable love. This is the God who calls me to Himself. I must respond with joy, fear and awe, as I recall from the Bible the way He deals with sin. 

Here is a nation that God called His own; he gave them a land that they didn't work for or earn, yet they found ways to hurt Him. They rejected him and turned to other gods, and just as He had consistently warned them, He punished them for their rebellion and disobedience. Let it be repeated again: God will punish sin, no matter in whom it is found. God has no favourites when it comes to sin. 

So, God punished, but his love just couldn't ignore the pain. He forgave, and then made some promises that are in focus in today's extract. If you will trust the promises of anyone who pronounces them, you check out the pedigree of that person: can He be trusted? Has He made such promises in the past, and was he able to fulfil them? When you have proven the pedigree of the maker of the promises, then you can trust that whatever it is you clearly heard him say will come to pass. 

A good example: the flood of Noah. God made a promise then that He would not destroy the world again with water the way He did then. About 6,000 years have passed since then, and the promise still stands, so it means that this God is able to do all that He has promised. Check out the verse before today's extract: For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 

In that light, when you read today's extract, you get the picture of who this God is. He is ready to disrupt natural laws in order to bring about His promise. He is ready to suspend nature, just as he did for Joshua, when his name is at stake. When God swears, it is serious business. He can move hills and mountains; after all, they are his creation and they answer to him. However, his Word is immutable. The natural world as you know it may change or be displaced; created things can fall out of sync. But when God says that his kindness will not depart from you, he means that He will watch over his word to ensure that for you, it comes to pass. When he says that the covenant of his peace will not be removed, it is because his peace is not subject to human machinations. His peace is not tied to the economy or my bank account balance, but to His power, mercy and nature. It is His peace, so you need to be IN Him to enjoy it. 

Who then is the person to whom this passage is addressed? It is to people who have enjoyed God's mercy and forgiveness. They are not full of self help or themselves, but totally surrendered to the God of mercy. If I will enjoy this mercy, I cannot claim self-importance. God's mercy and man's self-importance cannot coexist in the same human vessel. As long as I think I have it figured out, I do not need help. As long as God is the only one I look up to, then his mercy becomes my benefit. Where do you stand? His time of favour is here.