PROPHECY FULFILLLED:
Isaiah 45:1 The Lord talks about "his anointed, Cyrus". Back in chapter 44, verse 28 Isaiah says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt."
Only the Lord of history could have known that 150 years later, Cyrus would be the ruler of Persia, which had conquered powerful Babylon where the Jews had been in exile. It was Cyrus who permitted the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild, first under Ezra, and then under Nehemiah.
Who says God doesn't keep His promises, and even use those who don't even know Him to accomplish His will? Who can deny that the fulfillment of prophecies like this is proof that God's word is true?
RELUCTANT POTS
Isaiah 45:9 was a verse the Lord used to convict me back in 2003 when I first became the teaching leader of the Bible Study Fellowship International class I attended. At the time I was finding it SO hard to write a weekly lecture and was VERY aware of how inadequate I was to the task to which I knew the Lord had called me - and arguing with God about why He didn't chose someone better qualified! Oh Moses, I knew exactly how you felt! Let's have a chat about that when I get to heaven!
Isaiah said: "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground (this part at least I already KNEW!). Does the clay say to the potter, "What are you making?". Because God IS the potter, He's free to use His pots exactly as HE chooses - but He does equip them with all they'll need to do what He's fit them for! Are you quarreling with your Maker about the place where He has put you? Can you trust that He not only knows what's best for you, He also will fully equip you to do it too?
DYING GRACE
Isaiah 46:4 And now on to my favorite! "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."
I don't know whether any of you ever wonders about your death or are afraid about how it will happen and whether you'll be able to face it without fear. I do, or at least I did. If so, this verse should be a comfort.
Today is Mother's Day, a fitting day to share how the Lord applied this verse to my life.
I had the privilege of walking through the last 5 weeks of my mom's life with her. At 78 years old, she had a stroke during a test to access the condition of a valve in her heart. She survived the stroke with some paralysis and difficult speech, but as the weeks went on and she underwent some physical therapy, it became increasingly clear that she would never improve enough to have the surgery she needed to replace the faulty valve.
Those were difficult weeks of trying to understand her speech, having to decide whether or not to have a feeding tube put in (we did), and then weathering an infection that kept her in the hospital for a week. But they were also the sweetest weeks Mom and I ever spent together.
Mom has a sister who has always led Bible studies and is VERY outspoken about the importance of putting your faith in Jesus. Although Mom was very outgoing, she was not ever comfortable talking about her faith the way Joanie was. Until she had her stroke. All of a sudden Mom was asking people if they were Christians, inviting them to pray with us in her hospital room, and talking face to face with them about their need to trust Jesus. On the last day of her life, she called each of us family members in and raising her hands over us one at a time, she prayed for us. Because of the stroke and the fact that she was near death, we couldn't understand a word she was saying, but we knew what she was doing. She was praying for US!
It was during those days that Isaiah 46:4 really came to be TRUTH, not just words on a page. Watching the peaceful and glorious way Mom magnified the Lord in the face of death made me realize that when we believers face that last enemy - God does not abandon us. Even to our old age and gray hairs, He will sustain, carry and rescue us - from the experience of death itself, as He ushers us into His presence.
God proved to me through those weeks that I didn't have to be afraid of my own death - when the time comes, He will enable me, as He did Mom, to face it with confident faith - not because Mom or I have something special (although we DO have Jesus!) - but because God IS faithful. Even to the very end, we can trust Him.
May the truths of God's Word be not just words on a page - but REALITY.
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