By Pastor Chad Allen, Lead Pastor
Just wanted to share a little encouragement/exhortation with you. Recently, when I read through our CVC Bible Reading Plan (which I hope all of you are engaged in and enjoying), Isaiah 22:8-11 (ESV) really struck me:
[8] He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, [9] and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, [10] and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. [11] You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
Isaiah 22:8-11 (ESV)
In this powerful section of Scripture where the Lord is indicting nations, including His own children and chosen nation, He points out to Jerusalem that during a time of great need, they turned solely to their own resources and ingenuity. As they were surrounded by an army, they turned to the weapons in their armory (the house of the forest was a reference to part of Solomon’s palace that he stored weapons – see 1 Kings 7), they relied on their own plans to redirect water sources and fortified the breaches in the wall – all good strategic ideas, but what they did NOT do was, “…look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago”. Their dependence was on self not on the Lord. They neglected to turn to the Lord.
I don’t know about you, but my human nature defaults to self-reliance. I often think “what can I do about this?” rather than, “God, what will You do about this?” I just want to encourage you, that as children of God we are God dependent. Let us as individuals, families and a community of faith fight to keep our God Dependence intact. May we turn to Him over our own ideas and ingenuity. May we be a people who see God do great things rather than a people that see only people that just do good things.
I hope this helps you as it helped me today to remain… God Dependent!
