Nov. 29 - Pastor Erdos (Isaiah 64:1-9)

When things go poorly, we can be tempted to think God has abandoned us. God must have forgotten we’re here. If not abandonment, someone may try suggesting we must have done something terribly wrong and God is now punishing us. Abandonment or punishment, it’s a pretty sinking feeling. The people of Judah are thinking this way and the prophet Isaiah gives voice to it. Things have gone terribly wrong for them and now they’ve lost their country. Yes, they weren’t the people they were supposed to be. Now everything has fallen apart. And it feels like God did this to them.

Toward the end of the lesson, they remember who they are. They belong to God. Things have gone bad, but they still belong to God. They may have forgotten, they may have lost their shape, but they’ve decided to trust that God has not forgotten them. Even in the moment Isaiah is talking about, they trust that God is still there. It’s been hard, but they trust that they are still in God’s hands. Somehow, in ways they cannot explain, they are in God’s hands.

In these days, we remain in God’s hands. We have been living in unprecedented times. Back in March, none of us expected COVID to look like this at the end of November. It’s been hard. For some, it’s been very, very hard. Many are grieving. But like the prophet came to see, we are in God’s hands. Our lives may feel like a struggle, but God is still there. And maybe, God will turn us into something new, something unexpected.

Maybe as we wait for Christmas this year maybe we can see that God has been doing remarkable things with us over these months. God can shape us into new people, with a new vision and a new hope for the world. Maybe our lives are more than we ever thought.
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Come quickly, O God. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Pastor Gary Erdos