But God…
By Dean Collins
Every story is changed when these two words enter the narrative: “But God.” We have heard the testimonies of so many who were at their rope’s end, “but God” tied the knot that they held onto and pulled them up out of their disaster. I suspect every reader of this devotional has a “But God” story to tell!
Chapter 64 of Isaiah is a “But God” narrative, but it also begs the question we all have had so many times: “But when?” Isaiah seems to long for God to appear again with his great powerful presence, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.” Isaiah’s longing for God to make himself known is not just that he would be visible, but that he would make his presence known to all adversaries of God’s beloved children.
Isaiah offered words of praise to God, declaring that never in the history of the world has there been a God besides the God of the universe. Yes, there have been many imagined deities, but there is only one God who both created and sustains the world and everything in it.
The prophet continued his prayer, reminding God that he acts for those who wait for him and indicates that the people of God are waiting even now for God to act on their behalf. Isaiah also rightly confessed that all have sinned against God and now are enduring the consequences of their sin. Isaiah asks if we will be saved. If not, all is lost because if God doesn’t intervene then the people of God will simply be blown away.
When we arrive at verse eight, the prophet combines the familiar declaration of “But God” with a question of “But when?” Here are Isaiah’s words:
“But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
The prophet is succinct in what he is stating:
God, you are our Father.
We are the clay.
You are our potter.
We are the work of your hand.
What a wonderful reminder of who we are in relation to God the Father. God is the one who brings all things to life. Not only did he originally bring man to life from the dust of the earth, he is the potter who still shapes and molds us and has the power in his hands to change any and everything, even our hopeless-looking moments.
Isaiah pleads that God would not be so terribly angry and see only our hopeless sinful lives. The prophet pleads for God to intervene out of his great love, compassion, and mercy.
There is good news. God did intervene, and his intervention continues even today and will until Jesus returns in glory to finish the great work of redemption, renewal, and restoration.
The first readers or hearers of the prophet’s words had not yet heard or seen how God intervened by sending Jesus, his Son, to bear all of our sin on the cross and bring us from dead in our sins to being alive in Christ. Yet even as they waited, God was at work both in their immediate situation and in their and our ultimate redemption.
God hears our prayers, and he acts on our behalf and for our good. God’s mercy is new every morning, and he is faithful in every way. This means that even today he is at work in our little victories and in our huge setbacks. God will find away. And as he shapes our situation for his glory, we will once again share our testimony of the moment God stepped in.
Thank you, Father, that you are the potter and that we are the clay. We often want to force it to be the other way, but every time we do things get worse. Forgive us. Today we surrender to your time and your way for our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Isaiah 64:1-12; Psalm 146:1-10 ESV
Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
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