March 2022
“even to your old age ... I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" Isaiah 46.4 (RSV)
Our
Creator God declares, in the time of Isaiah the prophet, “I have made and I
will bear”. The people were worshipping and following many gods whose wooden
idols were carried about. How different
to our God, “I am the Lord and there is no other”, who is not carried about but
instead carries his people and can save them.
God
is righteous because he is the source of rightness and wills to set right what
is wrong. Isaiah’s prophesies are not only for his time but also pointing and
looking forward to the redemptive activity of God in the future, also not
afraid to warn of God’s judgement on
his people. There are comforting words which are found in the previous verse
that the remnant of the house of Israel ‘have been born by me from your birth.’
In many senses we can see ourselves as the ‘remnant’ and that God has carried
us from birth. And we can look forward to salvation in the future.
In
Psalm 91 we read “I will protect you, for you acknowledge my name”. We will all
be aware at times that God really does seem to protect us. But at the same time
we know of situations, of people, who have a profound trust and love for God,
but who still suffer often in terrible ways.
The
protection God offers to us and in which we put our trust is not necessarily a
physical protection. Rather it is like a divine envelope of healing and
wholeness that surrounds the very depth of our being. Our faith and trust needs
to grow so that we have an inner knowledge, knowing in our heart that we are
loved.
May
we, during this season of Lent, develop a greater sense of trust in the power
of I AM to protect us even to old age.
In
the words of the eighteenth century hymn writer Richard Keen,
“Fear
not he is with thee, O be not dismayed
for
he is thy God, and will still give thee aid,
he'll
strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld
by his righteous, omnipotent hand”.
We
can use as the Watchword: “I have made and will bear, carry and save”.