I was encouraged by my brother-in-law, Paul, to read this scripture and wanted to share it with my our small group. It has become one of my favorite parts of scripture. Our God is so huge and we are so small. yet, in his bigness, he allows us to know him. That is amazing to me. How great is our God? He's AWESOME!!!!
I have been meditating on verse 8 for the past 2 days now and it is just speaking wonders to me.
Our God and his word stands for ever. How cool is it that he is "OUR" God. Not just the God, or God, but "OUR" God. He's mine! He's yours! He's OURS!!
Isaiah 40:8-15
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." 9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? 14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? 15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. 9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? 14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? 15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Here is a verse that encouraged me at a very dark time. It was Matthew 10:29-31 (New Living Translation)
ReplyDelete"29 What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows."
At the time this verse encouraged me, I was working in new home sales and dealing with a lot of stress from my job and subsequently in our marriage as an effect of Jon & I rarely crossing paths. I was very depressed about how we were getting along and felt like although I knew we needed the time together as a family to reconnect, the money I was making at my job was carrying us and I didn't trust that we would make it without my income. I had a very good friend at work who emailed me that exact verse to tell me about how it had encouraged him. (He had been divorced and recently remarried to a wonderful woman.) Well, later that week I was outside and had the "strangest" experience. I use quotations because its not strange but divine really. There must have been five hundred or more birds flying overhead and they all landed on the line of trees behind the house I was working out of. I am serious, they were numerous and very loud. It reminded me that God also cares more for me than all those sparrows. Or whatever birds they actually were. This helped to push me into my decision to quit my job and to make the relationship I had with our family a priority over our bank account.