Day 4 – Issue 12

Be Still Know

Isaiah 38:4 NLT

Then this message came to Isaiah from the Lord:

On holiday in France with my wife Katey, I remember vividly how God spoke to me one day. We had been boating on a lake and as Katey stood to disembark, her left leg appeared to give way from under her and she collapsed in a heap in the well of our rowing boat. At the time I felt a deep disturbance within myself, a far greater reaction than the incident demanded, since Katey lay laughing, obviously unhurt, an untidy heap in the bottom of the boat.

I recalled this was not the first time that she had fallen unexpectedly, and I clearly heard God whisper, ‘Get her to the doctor as soon as you are home.’ While this was loud and clear at the time, as the holiday wore on and Katey’s fall had at best merely hurt her pride, I found myself drawing back from God’s word. However, returning home, and despite her many protestations, I insisted we visit the doctor. And so began the journey which by the close of the year confirmed a diagnosis of MS.

Isaiah is entrusted with the word of God for Hezekiah. With his diagnosis of terminal illness, the king had withdrawn and fallen into what appears to be a deep depression. He prayed, yet without much conviction. Yet, in response God spoke to Isaiah who then brought God’s response. God’s response was to add 15 years to Hezekiah’s mortal life and also to deliver him from the hand of the Assyrian king. Even then, Hezekiah required a sign. Receiving and then holding on to God’s word is challenging for each one of us.

It is all too easy to fall out of love with scripture because we either become too familiar with its major stories or simply neglect reading it or listening to it. However, scripture is not dead words written upon a page for all time, it is in fact the love of God that emerges from the written text to engage us every day in the real situations we face. Scripture is one place where God manifests himself today in our time/space world.

QUESTION: Is it time for you to earn to engage with God’s written word again?

PRAYER: Father God, when all else passes away, your word endures. Help me to trust, know and love your word more. 

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright C 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc, Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA. All rights reserved.