Word: from Isaiah 8 (abridged) (NLT)
11 The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, 12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. 13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. 14 He will keep you safe.
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19 Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead?
20 Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21 They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22 and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness. (NLT)
During elections or times of national tension, everyone seems to be telling everyone how to think! Persuasion bleeds over into defamation; rational arguments become disingenuous distortions of the truth. All parties have their polls to tell us how everyone else is thinking. Turning to our national sources of information becomes hopeless.
The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. Isaiah was directing his audience, not to a political alternative, but rather to God for their truth.
If you are afraid of what could happen, choose carefully where you seek comfort. Don’t create or believe every conspiracy theory. Don’t shudder at the dire consequences that talking heads predict; rather, look to God’s instructions and teachings and ask God for guidance. Exchange the polls for prayer; choose to fear God rather than the opposing candidate.
And how do you know which you have chosen? Isaiah says that the people who ignore the Word of God will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair.
Don’t despair; look to God’s teachings and instructions.
Prayer: O Father, we are surrounded by voices of despair and contradiction. We struggle to know whom to believe, so we often believe things that aren’t true. Turn our hearts to you so that we can walk in the light of truth and not be afraid. Teach us to trust your word above every other message. AMEN
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