God Is Still Faithful

Good morning. Today we are in Isaiah 21, verses 1 through 10.

And I know you're already saying, "But Hope, we just did that."

Technically, yesterday we only made it through verse 4.

And I—I finished my recording.

I put up all the recording things.

I packed my Bible up for the next thing.

And as I was walking out of the room, God said, "But I still have more for you. You're not done yet."

And I'm like, "I did the recording."

And He's like, "But Hope, you're not done yet. There's more."

So here we are in the same place.

But God's right. There's more.

From Israel's perspective, the Babylonian exile hasn't happened yet.

They've been told about it, but it hasn't happened.

And so this vision goes even further into the future than that because, as we see, there's gonna be a promise from God from the other side of this.

We have the benefit of being able to look back at history and know how it played out.

The Israelites, they haven't even started to experience what was going to happen.

They just know that God had spoken through Isaiah with a prophecy of what is to come.

And I think that that's something important for us.

Because sometimes when we're in the middle of it, or sometimes when we are anticipating something, we feel like God's abandoned us.

We worry that our faith isn't enough.

And it makes me think of two things in particular.

One, a health concern.

And another is, like, a really difficult relationship or period of time that you're walking through.

Maybe work is just really, really hard.

Maybe your finances are really struggling.

Or you're having significantly serious health issues.

And I—I think we can get stuck in verses 2, 3, and 4 for that reason too.

Because it is hard.

It is terrifying.

It is completely unknown.

We get stuck there.

And I know for me, I can think these things of, like, "Well, my faith isn't enough," or, "I'm not depending on God," or, "I'm not doing X, Y, or Z enough."

And I can think, "Well, if I'm not doing these—if I'm not doing enough—then this is God's reason for allowing me to go through that."

Now, for Israel, this is happening because they are disobedient.

But we can be obedient to God and still suffer.

We can be obedient to God, be faithful, be in His Word, have tough things happen.

We can still struggle financially.

We can still have really bad health issues.

We can still be in the middle of really tough life situations.

But it doesn't tell us that God is not faithful.

It doesn't tell us that we're not doing enough.

It simply means that we are walking through a painful season, and we need to depend on Him even more.

Even when it doesn't happen the way we think it's going to happen.

Even when the promise that we expect to be answered isn't answered the way—or the process in which—we expected it to.

Yes, God can heal you here on Earth.

Yes, God can change your financial perspective.

Yes, He can step in and change whatever we're going through.

One hundred percent.

But just because He doesn't, it doesn't mean He is not still God or that He is not still faithful.

Just because He doesn't heal us, just because our financial situation doesn't drastically improve, it does not mean that God is not faithful.

That His promises do not hold.

Because here we go on to read that a watchman is supposed to go watch.

And in verse 9, we read:

"Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs."

And one said:

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground."

"My downtrodden people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the Lord of armies, The God of Israel, I make known to you."

God's promise is still there.

His faithfulness is still there.

And I think often—I know I have this vision or image that if I'm faithful enough, if I pray enough, if I do enough, God will then do whatever I'm asking Him for.

And He may.

One hundred percent.

God is the God of miracles.

And we may see that hope, that resolution, in our lifetime while we are here on Earth.

But it's not any less if we keep walking forward and continue to struggle.

Or if the health problem that we have calls us home, and He heals us in heaven instead of on Earth.

It doesn't make God any less faithful.

It doesn't make His promises any less of a promise.

It doesn't make God's character change any because something that we've walked through was so much harder than we ever expected it to be.

God is still faithful through it all.

And may we not only get—may we not get stuck in the hard stuff and either dismiss it because it's not from God.

May we not think that because the promise didn't come in the way we expected that it still wasn't given.

Because I can guarantee you that Israel saw and heard this thing that Babylon was going to fall, and they were like, "Yeah, but what's going to happen between now and then?"

Because I may be wrong in my thought process here, but I don't think Isaiah got to see the Babylon thing happen.

That happened long after him.

Israel experienced it long after he shared it.

But it doesn't mean that God's promises didn't stand for them too.

It just meant they were meant for a different time.

Here, it's definitely something for me.

So as I had you reread chapter 21, verses 1 through 10, what stuck out to you?

What did God speak to you about?

Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, that we would trust You regardless of the outcome.

That we would learn to abide regardless of where we go or how things play out.

That we would trust You regardless.

Lord, there is a very specific woman in my mind right now, and I just pray that You be with her as she walks through what she is walking through.

You know who she is.

Lord, I just ask that You'd be with us today as we go out and do the things You've asked us to do.

That we will trust You regardless of what it looks like.

That we will depend on You regardless of if the outcome's what we expected it to be or not.

You are still sovereign.

You are still Lord.

You are still faithful.

Oh, it is in the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Thank you for joining me today as we wander through God's Word with wonder.