Day 198/365- Isaiah 22:8-11

"Last Resort"

Judah's defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons. You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool. You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls. Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago. (Isaiah 22:8-11 NLT)

Something didn't turn out like you planned.

Devastation has struck.

A relationship has ended.

A loved one has passed away.

A decisions has to be made.

What is our first instinct? What or who do we turn to? Who or what is on the top of the list & who follows after that?

Judah is being attacked & we see how they respond. They run to the armory to equip themselves against the enemy. They put their trust in their weapons. They run to the wall to ensure that there are no breaches in their defense. They put their trust in their resistance. They fill pools & tear down houses to strengthen the wall so that their enemies will be kept out. They put their trust in themselves.

In the midst of the chaos, they have forgotten the most important thing (really the most important person). "But you never ask for help from the One who did all this." They never think to ask God for help. They turn to their weapons & their defenses but can't imagine that God could help in any way!

Shocking!

Or is it?

I see this same attitude in me. The enemy is on the attack! What do I do? Firm up my defenses! Quote a Bible verse!

I'm facing a tough decision, what do I do? Ask my family for advice!

I'm grieving a loss in my life, what do I do? Turn to something to ease the hurt & pain, even if it's just temporary.

Not that these things are bad in & of themselves. But God must be the first person I turn to for everything! Good & bad days must be full of him. I must depend on him, turn to him, run to him, hide in him, put my confidence in him, & be healed by him.

Isaiah 22 confirms that he is the only one that can do anything about Judah's (and our) circumstances anyway. They should have turned to him first! Instead, they turned to themselves & their ability to handle their own lives.

What's our first reaction? God or us? His resources or ours? His answers or ours? His advice or ours? His comfort or ours?

He longs to be, deserves to be the first & it's to our great benefit to run to him!