Isaiah 64

"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!...For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him".

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We understand powerful people act in their own best interests. We aren't surprised by this. This is the point of being powerful. So...when somebody is good to us we rightfully understand there is something in it for them. It's not really about us.

But...what if there was such a thing as a national/world leader whose only motivation for exercising power was to further our best interests? Cynically, I would say I've never seen one.

With a single exception...Israel would agree. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him".

Which, of course, implies one does exist...

Unbelievers need to take a closer look at God. It's so easy to view everything about God as accruing benefit to Himself. In other words...God does things because He can and because He wants to. This view makes God "other than us"...impersonal...unengaged and unconcerned. No wonder much of the world believes God's demand for worship is a supreme ego trip.

What if it wasnt' about God? What if it was all about us...as Israel claims?

What if the only possible "good outcome" for our eternity was that we worship God? Not because God demanded it but because it was simply cosmic reality? Would God's demand then derive from His ego or from the depths of His heart?

Failure to know God as fully benevolent is failure to know ourselves. If we know ourselves to be somebody who doesn't need God we will only regard God's direction as usurping our liberty to decide for ourselves. If we know ourselves to be sinners in need of salvation our view changes dramatically.

Which explains Israel's prayer in Chapter 64, Israel is asking for God's judgement. She says "We know this will be terrible, but it is the only way. So come, Lord, do your work." Hasn't this been our cry at times, when we have seen the terrible things that are going on around us? "Lord, come and end this terrible scene, at whatever cost"?

Can we say this...without equivocation? Lord, come and end this terrible scene, at whatever cost"? Or, are we nervous about what it might look like? Or, do we think things don't really look that bad? If so...way may not have the most appropriate notion of who God really is.

Live boldly out there today...