Taking a break today from this “Book Journey” I want to share this word with you. Recently I have had some very negative things said about me and this ministry that I’ve been called to do (preaching, teaching, writing). At first, I was upset – but then I thought of one of God’s great promises found in Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you will prosper…”
Now you know me – I’m all about “context”! And so I turned to a piece I’d written on this scripture before and found these words:
One commentator said, “Chapters 54-56 [of Isaiah] are oracles of salvation to three different groups of people who are the beneficiaries of the Servant’s ministry. Chapter 54 is addressed to those in exile who are faithful to God and represent the spiritual Church in all ages.”
Isn’t that where we all are? Aren’t we all “in exile”? Don’t we sing, “This world is not my home…”? The “Servant” promises children for the barren, and a redeemer for the dejected. He promises (much like Psalm 46:2) that should even the mountains be moved, His lovingkindness – His hesed shall not depart.
He promises that should his servants be attacked, it won’t come from Him (which, by the way, tells us who it IS from!) And then finally in verse 17 He says, “No weapon formed against you will prosper” and not only that, but “you will silence every voice raised against you” (NLT). [That’s just what I needed to hear!]
But, probably the most encouraging part of this promise comes next as God says, “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD.”
Oh my brothers and sisters! This is your heritage! This is your inheritance! As a born-again child of God, this promise is for you!
Now… does this mean that as a servant of the Lord, nothing will ever go wrong for me again? Does this mean that I won’t suffer or have problems? No, it just means that these things won’t rule over me – they won’t prosper – they won’t succeed in stealing my joy… unless I let them.
And I’m sure not going to let them! May God be glorified in all that I do and in all that you do for Him! Amen!