Isaiah 49:1-7 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor." 4 But I said, "I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God." 5 And now the LORD says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength-- 6 he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." 7 This is what the LORD says-- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel-- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
I want you to remember this this week: We are not forgotten! From the servant Isaiah to the church in Corinth to the world around us today, we are not forgotten!
We are going to be discussing The Good News of Faithfulness next Sunday...so I want us to reflect for a moment first on God's desire. In the text before us today, God speaks of how he has called his servant even before he was born. God will make his glory and splendor to shine through Isaiah. The call goes so far back, that it may well have been conceived in the immersion of the calling of God to humanity. Before birth, God's desire to speak to us, to gather us, and to redeem us was all bound up in this servant's life. It is a beautiful picture not only for Israel, but for teh gentiles as well (that's many of you and I).
There is a significant beauty about God's ongoing divine self-revelation that is note worthy. God's desires are so strong to be in relationship with us, that every outpouring of this self-revelatory content always issues a form of deliverance by inviting us, the hearers, to a place of deep intimacy with God.
Do you recall how God has worked this divine self-revelation before? Through covenant with Abraham, through a renewing of that covenant with Noah, and through Moses by rescuing the Hebrews from Egypt; every single time gathering his people and inviting them into a deep place of intimacy.
I/we/you have not been forgotten. Take some time this week to reflect upon the deep calling God has placed upon your life: the calling that invites you into a deeper and more intimate relationship with God, the calling that is so filled with God's desire that it serves to gather others to God, the calling that God has already begun to work in you and through you. Meditate on that calling. If you can't locate that calling in your life, pray for discernment that God might reveal to you God's desire for you life.
For those that have identified that "before you were even born" kind of calling in your life, I would invite you to share in the comments below so that others may see the good news of God's faithfulness as God continues to work through God's people.
I want you to remember this this week: We are not forgotten! From the servant Isaiah to the church in Corinth to the world around us today, we are not forgotten!
We are going to be discussing The Good News of Faithfulness next Sunday...so I want us to reflect for a moment first on God's desire. In the text before us today, God speaks of how he has called his servant even before he was born. God will make his glory and splendor to shine through Isaiah. The call goes so far back, that it may well have been conceived in the immersion of the calling of God to humanity. Before birth, God's desire to speak to us, to gather us, and to redeem us was all bound up in this servant's life. It is a beautiful picture not only for Israel, but for teh gentiles as well (that's many of you and I).
There is a significant beauty about God's ongoing divine self-revelation that is note worthy. God's desires are so strong to be in relationship with us, that every outpouring of this self-revelatory content always issues a form of deliverance by inviting us, the hearers, to a place of deep intimacy with God.
Do you recall how God has worked this divine self-revelation before? Through covenant with Abraham, through a renewing of that covenant with Noah, and through Moses by rescuing the Hebrews from Egypt; every single time gathering his people and inviting them into a deep place of intimacy.
I/we/you have not been forgotten. Take some time this week to reflect upon the deep calling God has placed upon your life: the calling that invites you into a deeper and more intimate relationship with God, the calling that is so filled with God's desire that it serves to gather others to God, the calling that God has already begun to work in you and through you. Meditate on that calling. If you can't locate that calling in your life, pray for discernment that God might reveal to you God's desire for you life.
For those that have identified that "before you were even born" kind of calling in your life, I would invite you to share in the comments below so that others may see the good news of God's faithfulness as God continues to work through God's people.
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