Valley Grove Assembly of God
July 6, 2008
Living Under God’s Umbrella of Provision
Isaiah 58:11
Introduction: Today I want to read you a verse out of the book of Isaiah from four different translations:
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not [deceive not]” KJV Isaiah 58:11
The NIV puts in this way, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” NIV Isaiah 58:11
The New Living Translation says, “The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.” Isaiah 58:11
I especially like this verse in the Message Bible. “I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life [in the emptiest of places], firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.” Message Bible Isaiah 58:11
God always shows us where to go.
God gives us a full life in the emptiest of places.
Throughout the book Isaiah uses many word pictures to describe how God wants to care for His people. “I will make you like a watered garden” is an oriental picture of happiness.
The term “ spring of water whose waters fail not” refers to caravans that sometimes were expecting streams in the desert only to find they had dried up. They were deceived by streams not being there. Isaiah says, “I will make you like a spring of water which waters won’t fail you or “deceive you.”
The 21st century has brought many people into the “emptiest of places.” The economy has worsened over the past few months. Gas prices are higher than they have ever been, groceries rise from one shopping trip to the next, billions of dollars are still going into the war in Iraq, storms and floods are destroying peoples homes in the Midwest and good jobs are no longer a certainty. Health care costs continually rise with no end in sight. It is true we are living in perilous times--the emptiest of places. Isaiah, the prophet, hundreds of years before Christ spoke to people who had dire needs just as we do in the 21st century. This chapter speaks to us as well as to them.
Does God care about our needs when our gas tanks are on empty, when the paycheck fails to cover the rising costs of just about everything? Why does it seem that so many people--even Christians--are not seeing themselves as a “well-watered garden” or a person living “a full life in the emptiest of places?” Why have things dried up so that they are no longer like a “gurgling spring that never runs dry?” Maybe this is a question you are asking as well.
There is much more to this chapter than the one verse I read which speaks of God’s abundant provision. God told Isaiah to speak some things to the people in order that they might find the promise of this verse. I think it speaks to us as well.
The people had somewhat of a desire to serve God, and they approached Him with rituals such as fasting but these rituals had become empty and meaningless. They went through the motions of it and put on sackcloth and ashes which was expected of them, but they did not have a spirit of true repentance. Even though the number of fast days had increased, they were not really denying themselves anything. On one hand they tended to seek God out, but on the other hand they treated people badly. Employers treated their employees unfairly and masters would release their slaves only to recapture them again. They were not quick to help those in need by sharing food, clothing and shelter. There was much social injustice and they said, “we might as well not even fast because God doesn’t even notice what we are doing. Why bother?” Have you ever wondered if it really mattered to serve God in today’s times? Isaiah answered that and said, “You can’t fast as you are doing today and expect God to hear you and to answer your prayers.” He asked them a question, “is that what you call a fast that is acceptable to the Lord?” He told them they couldn’t just hurry up and go through the ritual of fasting and put on the outward appearance of sackcloth and ashes and then have quarreling and strife with one another as they were doing. The purpose of the fast was to loose the chains of injustice and to untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free. That was not happening. The lives they lived on a daily basis were not in agreement with what they expressed in their fasting and prayer.
This speaks to us today. Do we seek God in only a superficial way? Is it only out of habit? We go to church on Sunday because we have always done it. We take communion on the first Sunday of the month because that’s when our church always does it.
STORY: There is a story told of a little church that had an unusual ritual every Sunday morning. When they sang the Gloria Patri they stood, turned to the right facing a blank white wall and sang. Every Sunday without fail they did this. A newcomer to the church was puzzled by this and asked, “Why do you do this?” No one knew. The only answer they could come up with was, “we’ve always done it this way.” That answer did not satisfy the newcomer. Other people were asked the same question. Finally an elderly man who had gone to church longer than anyone else remembered the reason. It seems that at one time they didn’t have hymnals and the words to this song were painted on the large white wall. Everyone stood, turned to the right facing the wall and sang. Over the years the words faded and the wall was repainted numerous times yet no one remembered the significance for standing and turning toward the wall. It was just an empty ritual.
We may not be guilty of doing the exact same things that the people of Isaiah’s times did that displeased God; but there could be similar things that cause us to miss out on God’s blessings and provisions for us. There may be things that we have become careless about which cause us to be experiencing dryness and lack in our lives both material as well as spiritual. Scripture tells us “let us give the more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:11).
Today people call things that once were sin as “a little weakness.” People will say, “I just have “a little weakness” for……” But in the meantime this “little weakness” that they clearly don’t want to get rid of is what is keeping prayers unanswered, and robbing the blessings of God from flowing abundantly. Many people will say, “Do you think this is a sin? Do you think it will keep me out of heaven?” Most of the time they are waiting on you to say, “Oh, no, that is OK. God doesn’t mind.” But if you say, “Ask God what He thinks about it and tell Him that if He doesn’t want you to do it that you will quit.” Most of the time people have not come to that place because they want to hang on and keep doing it.” Have you ever done this? Have you ever gone from person to person asking the same question until you get the answer you want??? I think we all have.
I found this little prayer the other day that we can all identify with:
Dear Lord,
So far I’ve done all right,
I haven’t gossiped,
Haven’t lost my temper,
Haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or
Overindulgent.
I’m really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, God,
I’m going to get out of bed.
And from then on,
I’m going to need a lot more help!
Author unknown
CONCLUSION: Scripture clearly tells us that we have to come clean with God if we want to live a full life in the emptiest of places and be willing to totally ask for His help throughout our daily struggles. Let us take heed to what we have heard and not only listen but to do it. Lets not just go through the motions in our spiritual lives without seeing any change take place in our lives. There is a scripture that sums this up in Joshua when God told his faithful servant, Joshua, “only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest OBSERVE to DO according to all the law which Moses commanded thee--turn not to the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:7.)
The part of the verse that stands out to me is observe to do--it takes more than to just know what we need to do in our lives--to observe but also to do it. Don’t just ask other people whether something is right or wrong. When we seek God on our own and He tells us to do or not do things, we need to also be quick to obey. Get used to saying, “OK, Lord, I am listening to what you are telling me and I’m quick to do it.” David said, “ I delight to do thy will O Lord.” Psalm 1:2 says, “but his delight is in the law of the Lord…and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”--whether in good times or in “the emptiest of places.” LET US PRAY:
