I Believe; Help My UnbeliefSample

God chose a people…and called them ‘mine’. God says to his people: you are mine… I am yours… seek my face/worship me. Generations do… they don’t… they will… they won’t...won’t...won’t.

That’s the background to Isaiah 40. Because God’s special people don’t seek his face, don’t worship him, they’ve been cut off from him. 

The messages start like a letter from home–a letter to the estranged; a letter to the not-loved, the disowned, the people in exile. 

But, oh! You can take a deep and restful breath. Feel relieved and comforted. Why? Because…your God-supreme has reclaimed you! 

To them, the letter would have read: MY dear loved ones; MY people; MY tribe; MY flock. (To us it reads MY dear adopted sons and daughters.) 

My four siblings and I went to boarding school from age six through 18. Back then, keeping in touch with family was all by letter. Almost all our letters from home were typed carbon copies. If we ever got a hand-written letter that was a treasure. This, this is a treasure: a very personal message from our God. “Be relieved and comforted MY people Israel. And YOU, my _________ breathe deeply.” 

Have you checked your mail today? Does this message ring true to you?

Prayer

Too often I’ve walked in the footsteps of my rebellious and distracted forefathers. But now I’m looking into the face of the one who called me ‘mine’.  That you have called me ‘mine’ settles my restless heart today, Father God.