5 Minute Read + Scripture readings
Today’s Bible Reading:
Today’s Bible Verse(s):
Isaiah 45:4–6 (CSB): “I call you by your name, for the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen one. I give a name to you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me. I will strengthen you, though you do not know me, so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is no one but me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.”
Reflections on Today’s Bible Verse(s):
The verses that I have chosen for today are very interesting. For starters, they are the words that God spoke, through Isaiah, about the pagan Medo-Persian leader named Cyrus. While Cyrus was favorable to the Jews, he was an astute (compromising) politician and worshipped the gods of other nations as well to gain their favor. So, Cyrus was not a God-follower.
Yet, we read in our verses for today that God used Cyrus to accomplish His divine purposes. God used a pagan ruler to do exactly what He (God) determined to happen.
Now, let’s look around us.
If you are in America (about 20% of this blog’s readers are not), then you are observing the chaos that surrounds us. Some of the problems are legit, some of the conclusions are incorrect, and some of the solutions are bizarre. But, nothing that I have just said, factual though it may be, fixes the problem.
We may be tempted to think that God has nothing to do with this. We may think that God has simply relegated Himself to being an observer.
But, that would not be true. He is just as involved in our current situation as He was in Cyrus’ time. God brought Cyrus to power and then used Cyrus to accomplish His (God’s) purposes.
Friend, God is sovereign. He reigns supremely and absolutely nothing can happen without Him either willing it to happen (His active will) or allowing it to happen (His passive will). Even in the chaos, God’s fingerprints are everywhere.
As a follower-of-Jesus, we should look for God’s fingerprints. What is He doing in all of this? What lesson(s) does He want us to learn? What actions or adjustments is He callings us to make?
Nothing happens by accident or without His guidance. So, look for God in the chaos. He’s there working out His purposes.
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Lord Jesus, just as You used a pagan ruler named Cyrus to accomplish Your purposes, You are currently also using rulers and citizens all around us to accomplish Your purposes. I pray that I wouldn’t simply throw my hands up in despair but would pray for repentance, wisdom for leaders, peace, reconciliation, and anything else you lay upon my heart. Help me to rest in the fact that You are accomplishing Your purposes even when all around me seems chaotic. Amen.
Matt’s Musings 