Today was one of those days upon reading some verses which I had highlighted in Isaiah 30:18-21, meaning I had read them before and obviously they spoke to my heart then. But this morning I was duly inspired again.
"The Lord will wait that He may be gracious to you..." wait for what? The verses prior to that are saying to me, He's waiting on me to return to Him. I'm probably off doing my "own thing," deciding that He needs a little help in answering my prayers. He will be exalted when HE is allowed to do it HIS way and not mine. But He graciously waits on me. That's what I need, to learn to graciously wait on others as God works in their lives. I need to be patient and allow them to grow in Him, in His time and not mine.
Then "the bread of adversity and the water of affliction"....oh that I know well. But the next word that jumps off the page is "teachers." God was showing me that my teachers are adversity and affliction. I learn more from suffering than from the sunshine. Sunshine is important, but so are the clouds. It is almost like adversity and affliction are a daily fare on our plates.
When the sun shines (life is easy) I find my prayers aren't of the same quality. But let the suffering come our cry is urgent, just like a child with an "oweeeeee!" Oh the pain.
The joy of all this is verse 21, in the midst of the suffering, we will hear a voice saying, "This is the way to go."
I'm making an "educated" guess, that I have learned more in the School of the Spirit and Suffering than I have from text books.
As a final thought, in verse 20 it is quite clear that adversity and affliction of given of the Lord. Maybe, just maybe, we are thinking it is all of satan, when in reality it is the graciousness of God teaching us!
God bless you
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