TITLE: A SEVERE MERCY
TEXT TO REFLECT ON:
7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.
9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,
and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
yet the harvest will flee away
in a day of grief and incurable pain.
ISAIAH 17: 7-11
REFLECT
Perhaps humankind's greatest folly is self-reliance. We foolishly believe that we are the captains of our destinies. The problem with being self-reliant is that in our quest to make things work for ourselves, we damage each other and destroy each other's work.
This is the message of today's text. Israel was surrounded by powerful neighbours who were either seeking to destroy her, or making alliances to destroy other nations. It was indeed a dog-eat-dog world. The world's resources were insufficient to satisfy each person's insatiable desire for more, and the only way to get what one wanted seemed to be at the expense of another.
In the passage before us, God foretold the alliance of Damascus and Israel that there would be a day when they would be shaken from their self-reliant delusion, and realize that their only means of survival was in relying on God. Their people would toil and have the best of crops, yet have no harvest. Their cities, with all their splendour which they had made so ornate and impenetrable, would lie in ruins. Only then would the people come to their senses and realize that all of life depended on God, and that they could rely only on God.
RELATE
Self-reliant persons or societies create environments that seek to elevate themselves while tearing down their rivals. Instead of mutually building each other up, we mutually destroy each other. We often believe that the only way to rise is to ensure the downfall of others. We play a zero-sum game - either I win and you lose, or you win and I lose. We see this striving in our homes where we feel like we are losers when we give in or humbly concede to our opposing family member. We see this among churches when we view another church as a competitor for a limited pool of people. We certainly see this at work where we view our colleagues as rivals for a limited fund for bonuses, promotions, or simply the boss's affirmation. And it gets worse after we have gotten to the top. Because the energy needed and the anxiety we experience to keep ourselves at the top, is far greater than what is needed to get us to the top. If only we dared to admit that such an existence drains us of life. We don't get to enjoy much or any of our hard-earned victories.
There comes a time when God mercifully brings us back to our senses and helps us realize that we do not have to strive so fiercely to get what we want. God then helps us see that all good things come from Him and not from clawing and snatching from our rivals. He shows us that we get so much more from depending on Him than from fighting our rivals for limited resources.
This realization however, comes at great initial costs. Most often, we can only come to this insight when we see our best efforts fail miserably, or when we discover that we are altogether powerless and helpless on our own. It is indeed God's severe mercy when we see our self-efforts crumble.
Yet this is the best thing that can ever happen to us. The Apostle Paul experienced this. We do not know the cause of his failure or what had failed. That is not important. What is important is the lesson that he learned in the process. This is what he discovered: "But God said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9. Paul realized that it was far preferable to acknowledge and dwell on his weaknesses than on his strengths, because in acknowledging how weak and powerless he was, he was enabled to see the far greater power of God that was available to him.
It is God's desire that we have deeper insight into how "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" we are, that we might turn to God to "buy [from Him] gold refined in the fire, so [we] can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so [we] can cover [our] shameful nakedness; and salve to put on [our] eyes, so [we] can see." Revelations 3:17.
REST
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home
Chiu Ming Li
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