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Do you have a circumstance in your life that makes you so scared, vulnerable, or anxious that your heart trembles within you? I’m grateful if this unsteadiness of soul isn’t your current state. At some point, however, you may have fear invade, which may cause your heart to quake like a tree shaking in a storm.
King Ahaz and his people understood this kind of fear. The news of an impending, massive attack had come to the royal court of Judah, and they were undone with worry. Isaiah 7:2 says their hearts were shaken “as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.”
Into this true story of gripping fear enters the kindness of the LORD.
God sent comfort and assurance through His messenger Isaiah, who told King Ahaz that the enemy coming for him was void of power. Yes, the enemy was plotting an attack, but, like a flashlight without batteries, the plan unfolding against them would be ineffective and impotent. In fact, “Thus saith the Sovereign LORD, this invasion will never happen; it will never take place.” Isaiah 7:7 (NLT)
Ahaz needn’t worry!
He didn’t need to worry, but simultaneously, God was explicit; King Ahaz had work to do – faith work.
The LORD, through Isaiah, said this to King Ahaz after he assured him the invasion wouldn’t even take place: “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” Isaiah 7:9
In my quiet time this morning, I stared at those words and prayed long over particular, pain-filled circumstances involving people I love dearly. I have experienced moments when my heart has shaken with fear over my beloved.
I think God was saying to Ahaz, me, and you that faith in God and His Word is the remedy for our hearts to stop quaking. For Ahaz and for us to stand steadfast in the storms of life, we need to have faith in God, who said of Himself in Exodus 34:6 that He is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
One thing I love about our God in this true story is that He didn’t scold or chastise Ahaz for his fear. He did not spank Ahaz for being scared. He sent comfort and assurance via Isaiah to minister to Ahaz’s trembling heart.
Another thing I love about God in this true story is that the God Who Sees, the One who never takes His eyes off us for a second, not only knew precisely the state of Ahaz’s heart, but He also saw exactly where he was. The LORD told Isaiah in great detail where he would find Ahaz: “at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.”
Likewise, Psalm 139 tells us of the wonderful knowledge that is so mind-boggling we can’t attain it: He never takes His eyes off us. There is nowhere we can go where He isn’t already. His presence is constant.
Ahaz had an enemy of his land; we have an enemy of our souls. Because of the completed work of God through the cross of Christ, our enemy has been defeated, like a flashlight without batteries! Stand firm in faith, beloved of God. By God’s enabling, do the faith work of believing His true, life-giving, life-saving Word. Simultaneously, lean hard and wholly rest in God’s everlasting, steadfast, and capable arms.
(Photo Credit: Unsplash- Amir Shamsipiur)