Isaiah 26

I've been reading through Isaiah, a chapter each day. Normally I write down a few points from each chapter. But in Isaiah 26, there was just so much goodness, that it ended up way too long to whatsapp to my accountability group. So instead, here it is :) 

v1 "We have a strong city;"

- I like this. Such a simple statement, but it's powerful. We have security. We have protection. We have a refuge to hide in. We have a safe home that we should be inviting other people into. Are we living in the strong city or are we doing our own thing in the wilderness?

v2 "Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter,"

- The gates were not made to be closed and to keep people out. As Elsa did in Frozen, let's declare that the gates are open forever for all to be welcomed in. Let's be inviting people into our world that they may find Jesus and his righteousness and grace and salvation. 

v3 "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you."

- Perfect peace. Nothing missing, nothing broken. Peace beyond our understanding and control and logic and circumstances. This peace comes only because we trust in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. I know that sometimes having a mind that is steadfast seems impossible in this world we face. But our minds can be steadfast, not because of ourselves, but because of where our trust is placed, because we know the One in whom we trust (2 Tim 1:12)

v4 "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal."

- As Isaiah often says, it's the Lord himself. The Lord himself is our refuge, our salvation, our Rock eternal. Not a religion, not some ideas, not some tick boxes that we build our lives on. It's the Lord himself. 

v7 "The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth."

- To be honest though, sometimes it feels more like a rollercoaster. But the life we live is a life of faith, and we have to trust that even in the storms and rocky paths, God is still in control and he is making a way. 

v9 "My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you."

- More honesty: I often don't feel this. Often my yearning and longings are for other things—for comfort, for riches, for recognition, for achieving, for being liked. I want to get better at this; aligning myself more and more to Jesus. Like Jack Sparrow's compass that always points to the thing he desires the most, I want my heart to always point to Jesus. 

v12 "Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."

- So important to remember that ALL is from God—peace, accomplishments, gifts, success, hope, meaning, purpose, everything. Helps to keep us humble. 

v13 "Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor."

- So many things try to lord over us: culture, our feelings, our insecurities, fear of man, our bosses, our busyness. But there is only One that is worthy and able to rule over us in righteousness and justice.

v16 "Lord, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer."

- I don't think I have ever been in a situation where I have felt this desperate—but I know that way too many people have been. And I love that we can still come to Jesus in our distress. Even when we can barely whisper a prayer, He hears us and is moved with compassion. His heart is for us. And as it says in Isaiah 42: A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

v18 "We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life."

- We can't save people. It's all Jesus and it's him alone. We are called to love people and show them the salvation that is on offer for them; but we can't bring the dead back to life. I find that freeing, it takes the pressure off of me and puts it rightfully on the infinitely large and capable shoulders of Jesus. As one of my favourite Narnia quotes says: "It is Aslan, not you, that will save Mr. Tumnus." It's Jesus, not me, that will save my friends and family and colleagues and even enemies. It's all him. As the next verse says:

v19 "But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise"
- In the Lord, the dead will live again. In Christ alone.