The Lord Waits to be Gracious
Daily Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 29-32
Daily Focus Passage: Isaiah 30
Isaiah provides a message of hope despite the sinfulness of the people. Isaiah declares that the Lord remains gracious to his people despite their disobedience and wayward condition. Isaiah 30 continues to provide a message of hope for us today. The prophet's words of God's patient graciousness reveal how we can find hope despite battling the ways of the flesh.
THE LORD WAITS GRACIOUSLY
The Lord extends grace to his people. Grace is the receiving of something that one does not deserve. The Lord waits graciously because he extends the gift of life and seeks to bless his children, though they do not deserve it. The moment of disobedience deserves death, but God gifts us with the ability to repent and waits to provide us the opportunity to repent instead of demanding instant death. The extension of this favor in waiting comes from the grace of God and is experienced by us today because even in our moments of waywardness, he waits as the patient, loving, gracious Father.
THE LORD SEEKS TO SHOW MERCY
The prophet Isaiah speaks to the Lord's desire to show humanity mercy. Mercy coincides with grace. If grace is the giving of what is not deserved, then mercy is the withholding of what is earned. When the Father graciously waits, he demonstrates grace and mercy. He withholds the immediate death sentence we deserve so that his grace can be offered and received. The Lord holds the ultimate authority of mercy because he can levy the eternal death sentence due to sin. Thus, we continue to experience the mercy of the Lord in forgiveness and the gracious waiting of the Lord.
THE LORD REMAINS JUST
The grace and mercy of the Lord work in hand with the justice of God. The Lord is perfect in justice because of his character. The Lord is perfect and holy. The Lord is righteous and just. The justice of the Lord is unblemished and true because it flows from his character. Though eternal death for sin is just, the Lord's justice also works within the framework of grace and mercy. The three components of grace, mercy, and justice align with the Lord's character and will. God's justice continues today. He remains just in his actions and in his ways.
The activity of gracious waiting that the Lord extends must become a source of our hope and thanksgiving. We find hope because he promises us a path to redemption and reconciliation with the Lord. At the same time, he offers his child an avenue of return in repentance. He graciously waits because he seeks to extend the time for repentance that we do not deserve. At the same time, we extend thanks due to God's gracious waiting. We must be moved to rejoicing that the Lord loves us so much that he would extend grace and mercy to us. When you read Isaiah 30, do you find hope in the truth of God's gracious waiting?
