Who did this?
This fresh set of Daily Devotions is being provided for our LCA/NZ family, friends and visitors to help us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face unsettling times. They can be used by families and individuals as part of the LCA/NZ’s Church@Home resources to encourage us and build trust in our Heavenly Father during this season of uncertainty and physical isolation.
by Pastor Reid Matthias
Click here for your printable verse to carry with you today.
Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I am the LORD, the first and with the last; I am he (Isaiah 41:4)
We had a lot of toys when I was younger. Not expensive things – mostly blocks, books and anything that could get stepped on. I was good at playing and creating. What I wasn’t good at was cleaning up.
One afternoon, a frustrated parent walked into the living room, where strewn across the entirety of the carpet were sharp objects, small toy cars and discarded lolly wrappers, and exclaimed loudly with hands perched on hips, ‘Who did this?’
To be honest, that’s a rhetorical question. Obviously, she knew who did it. But it’s good to know who, right?
In this scripture verse, the people of Israel are wondering how in the world they ended up in exile. Who did this? How did this happen? Who made this mess?
In previous chapters, Isaiah reminds the people of their role in the exile – chasing after idols, practices that did not honour God or their role in faithfulness. Then, in Isaiah 41, with no subtlety at all, God switches gears and reminds them who has been with the first of them and who shall be with the last of them as he brings them home isolation.
In the current crisis, no-one knows how it happened, and certainly not why, but we can see God’s hand in the aftermath. Faithful people are coming together to take care of each other and, as verse 6 reads, ‘Each one helps each other and says to another, “Take courage!”‘
Each of us, in this time of fear, says, ‘Take courage!’ in whatever you are making of this. In the end, we will say, ‘Good has come out of this’.
Because, this is what God does.
Father, remind us of your power, your strength and your guiding love. Unite us to encourage and love each other in these days. Amen.
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