Filed under: a buttery garlic sauce.
Throughout history, there have been really stupid groups of people.
I was looking through my notes that I took in Isaiah, trying to see where to move next. And instead of an exegetical approach to the text, I want to share with you what an extremely wise friend of mine said to me, how I applied it, and how Damascus apparently didn’t.
Isaiah 17:10,11 states –
“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, though you make them grow on the day that you plan 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.”
Context: This section of Isaiah is the group of oracles allotted for specific cities. Spanning from chapter 14, verse 24, to chapter 24, Isaiah communicates prophecies for these cities and, for the most part, their destruction. Super pleasant, I know. This chapter, 17, is all about the city of Damascus and one part (those two verses above) stood out to me. When one reads the chapter, you realize that Damascus is going to be destroyed completely and swifting…after nightfall and before the morning (v. 14)…it will not be a city, but merely ruins (v. 1)…only a few will remain (v.6)…and they will look to God from their desolation (v. 7-9). The verses I quoted (10,11) stood out to me because of the lessons that Jesus often taught in his ministry around vines, branches, planting, sowing…I believe that we can draw a parallel from this.
In the conversation I had with my friend the other night, I said, “I realize that I should be dead right now and that my life was spared for some reason, but I find myself asking, ‘Okay, God, what now?’” and I think that all of us ask this question at some point, whether we encounter a near death experience or we just simply realize the gravity of our sin nature. But when we take matters into our own hands and try to build an answer to this question from our own works, we forget what God did in the first place; we disregard His plan. See, when He saved you, He was just kicking that plan into gear; that was only the beginning. And that, my friends, is verse 10: “For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge…”
We sought in Him salvation and refuge and when we got it, we were done. And more often than not, we are oblivious to this, believing that because we were saved, we are subconsciously making efforts to grow and to follow His plan for our lives. Absolutely not! When we carry on with our lives like nothing happened, not only is that an indication of false salvation, but its also an indication of pride. “Yeah, God, I don’t need you to get a job.” or “I can get into MY dream college all by myself” or “I can prepare myself for ministry and get the position that I see for myself.” Nothing about those statements would please God. Sure, you’re being proactive, but in what direction? You’re being proactive to take matters into your own hands.
When did we stop needing God?
I know that for me, I stop needing God at least once a day, without even realizing it. All it takes is a thought of “I have to get this done” or “I have to make a spot on a ministry team” or “I have to serve on leadership next year”, and I am set back into this planning mode, configuring a way for me to achieve all these things that I set out for myself. Sure, God puts passions in our hearts for a reason, for His glory, but He doesn’t put them there so we can figure out how to accomplish them; He puts them there to spur within us a feeling of dependence on Him so that He can show us how He has divinely set up our lives and everything and everyone in them to accomplish it. He’s more creative than we are…wouldn’t we want the more creative plan of action? And we don’t HAVE to be anything or do anything besides what God has set apart for us.
Then, when we come to this reality, we set out to prune and cut off things that we don’t think belong. Wrong again, friends. Do we really know what is right and wrong to get rid of? My friend said something in regards to this: “If we go to cut things off on our own, we will probably cut off the wrong things.”
Let’s look back at the people of Damascus. “…therefore, though you plant pleasant plants…”
We can plant wonderful things in our lives, like friendships, relationships, business endeavors, classes, missions trips…all things that are looked upon as good. Things that are pleasant.
“…and sow the vine branch of a stranger…”
You can help others and cultivate relationships with other people. Those are beautiful things.
“…though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow…”
We can make things happen for us overnight if we put enough work into them. For example, an assignment that we have due the next day. We can work hard and do it in a couple hours and still get an A on it. Or we can hang out with someone for an entire day and already have a friendship built with them. We can hang out with someone everyday and end up dating them.
But this is the result: “…yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.”
Uhh…what? But I thought I was planting good things in my life. I thought I was being efficient. I thought I was accomplishing something. Not when you’ve forgotten God and who it was that put you there in the first place. What a slammer.
And this is so true in my life right now. I realized all of this and ended a relationship. I can make something work, I know I can, but if God’s not in it, then its going to end badly anyways. And so I had to end it. If I spend my time seeking the Lord and the person is put back into my life, then that’s it. But just like it said, I forgot God. I planted a wonderful thing into my life, but I forgot God. And so it ended in grief, in fighting, in tears. This is how it always ends.
But here’s the beginning. Check your life. What are you relying on your own strength to accomplish right now? Stop to remember the Rock of your refuge, the One who saved you and set out your life before it began, and He will establish the things in your life that He wants there.
Psalm 37:4-7, 23-24 says: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!…The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.”
As long as we refuse to remember the God of our salvation, we are just another stupid group of people. It’s time to turn the tide.
-CFG
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