28 October 01

“HOW TO GET THROUGH”

Isaiah 7:1-9

I pray that this message is helpful to you this morning.  Someone under the sound of my voice needs to hear this message.  Somebody here is in it.

Your life is threatened.

Your enemies are advancing their plans

Your resources are few

You morale is busted

Your confidence has gone AWOL

Your mind is confused

Your soul is tired

Your trouble is rising

You’ve lost your roadmap and your compass

Your Onstar (global positioning system is disconnected

Your calls are not being taken

Your letter was returned to sender

We have to pull through this predicament we are in right now.  Life is tough.   Things are hard.  We are anxious.

We have to get through.  Getting through is not getting around.  Some things in life cannot be circumvented.

Getting through will not keep you from getting harmed, hurt harangued harassed.

I want to share a little story this morning that is instructive to us.

I.    Do not assume that having enemies means defeat

The unholy alliance established between Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the king of Israel caused Ahaz great grief.  This conspiracy was an agreement between a known enemy and a one-time friend.  It had been two generations since the death of Uzziah.   Pekah and Rezin were both usurpers.  (Water seeks its own level!)   God shows u show insignificant Pekah is because in the text God never refers to him by name but by relationship to his father.  You know how some folks would never amount to anything if they were not born into the right family.  They live off their father’s and mother’s reputation but t they have no substance of their own!

They went to battle against Jerusalem but they could not prevail.  They were however, consistent.  They had deployed troops as close as Ephraim.  Anxiety set in as the distance between the forces shrank.  The king and his people were together like trees that the wind blew in the forest.

II.   Trust that God’s word is sufficient

God, recognizing the fear within his people, speaks to the prophet and gives him specific instructions. 

a)       Go see Ahaz,

b)       Go to the specific place I instruct you

c)       Take your son with you,

Do not worry.  Let go of your fears.  Be quiet and take courage.  These two chumps cannot do you any harm.

God always knows when we are afraid and God has an answer that will give us peace.

Isaiah’s son is a Remnant shall remain.

Taking his son is also a reminder to us.  Whatever we are going through, we are not going through it alone.  There is someone somewhere.  God does not let us face our pain all by ourselves. “A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief”

Listen to God’s voice and obey God’s instructions.

III.        Know that evil is only temporary

What does God actually say?

Their plans won’t stand. It shall not come to pass.  It won’t work. 

They were like firewood.  It’s hot for a wile but inevitably it will be burned up, turned to ashes and will be blown away in the wind.

Don’t believe the hype.  Sometimes we get paralyzed by the possibility.  Our mind plays tricks on us. 

In fact, the people who plot against you will be destroyed after a while and by and by.

This is why evil does not last forever, the people who plot it will inevitably die.  

Our victory. Our making it through is tied, wrapped up, tied up tangled up in our belief in God’s word.

Some of y you will remember the classic tale of Dorothy and the Wizard of OZ.  After finding herself in the wrong glace, she is haunted by the possibility of the wicked witch’s angst against her.  When the witch dies, she still has the dilemma of getting back to Kansas.  The wizard, a mere mortal himself lets her down.  She is wearing the Ruby slippers.  Click your heels together three times.  There’s no place like home. 

She had the power all the time. 

There’s nobody like God.