This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” – Isaiah 30:15

The situation in Isaiah 30 is about as bad as it can get.  The Assyrian Empire is growing and expanding, and Israel and Judah stand between it and Egypt.  Basically, Israel found itself between a rock (Assyria) and a hard place (Egypt).  The threat wasn’t imaginary, nor was it implied — it was very literal, and very visceral, and completely overwhelming.  Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah knew that, without help, they didn’t stand a chance.  There’s a lot of politics and a lot of history in this story, but for the sake of this article, the point is that both Israel and Judah found themselves facing a massively overwhelming force they were utterly incapable of dealing with themselves.  It was the working definition of a doomsday scenario.

We often find ourselves facing our own doomsday scenarios.  There is a lot to be afraid of in our world and our lives, and many of those threats are absolutely overwhelming.  Some of them are more literal, like when you lose a job, your marriage starts to fall apart, or a natural disaster threatens.  Others are more imaginary, such as how political candidates predict the end of life as you know it if their opponent wins.  Perhaps it is the ambiguity of those predictions make the threats more frightening.  Whether real or imagined, literal or figurative, the end result is the same: we find ourselves facing a massively overwhelming situation we know we are utterly incapable of dealing with ourselves.

During one poignant scene in Batman Begins, a young Bruce Wayne falls down a well into a cave.  As we see his father rappelling down the well to rescue Bruce, he says, “Why do we fall down, Bruce?  So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”  That mentality is deeply embedded in our culture.  The only one who is going to save you, is you.  You need to fix your problem, you need to pick yourself back up, you need to do the hard work, you need to find someone or some thing to help you out of your situation.  After all, we all know that God helps those who help themselves… which, if you take a moment to think about it, is kind of ridiculous.  If I’ve already helped myself, then what do I need God to do?

Israel and Judah faced an overwhelming force they were incapable of dealing with themselves, so what did they do?  They tried to deal with it themselves.  They tried to figure it out using their own wisdom and strength.  They tried asking Egypt for help.  They made plans to flee.  They tried ignoring the obvious evidence in front of them, thinking (hoping) Assyria would just ignore them.  They paid lip service to trusting God (see Isaiah 7:10-12), but only trusted in themselves.  Much of Isaiah is calling Israel out for this.  As Isaiah says, “‘Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the LORD, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.’” (Is. 30:1-2)  Their failure was not that they tried to make an alliance with Egypt, or that they developed plans for how to deal with the “Assyrian problem.”  Their sin was that they didn’t turn to the Lord first.  They didn’t ask Him what they should do.  They didn’t seek His direction.  They didn’t turn to the One who is their refuge and their strength (Psalm 46:1).

The means of our deliverance, as verse 15 states (quoted at the beginning), is through repentance and rest, through quietness and trust.  It is by turning to the Lord at the beginning of our woes, not waiting until the end of our rope.  Time and again we are told to let the Lord fight our battles.  Notice what happens every time Israel went into battle: God overwhelmingly stacks the deck against Israel.  Even when Israel showed up with military might and power, God had them send soldiers home, and not just some, but almost all (see Judges 7), so that no one would question who it was who delivered them.  Yahweh is our deliverer, in Him is our salvation and strength.  If we will let him.  If we will receive the salvation He offers.

The doomsday scenarios that lie before you are probably very real, and I have no doubt they are overwhelming.  Most everyone around you will tell you that you would be foolish to trust in the Lord.  But trusting in the Lord doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use your wisdom, or that you shouldn’t seek help from others.  It does mean asking God what you should do first, letting the Holy Spirit guide you in the steps you should take, and trusting that however God chooses to deliver you, even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment, is the right and the best way.  There is no problem too big for God to handle, no threat so overwhelming that He can not handle it.  And He wants us to bring it all to Him in prayer, trusting that because we know He loves us, He will deliver us… in His way, and His time.  Be still and know that He is God.  Be still and know that He will fight the battle for you.  Repent of your distrust, and rest in His salvation.  

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. — Proverbs 3:5-7

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison