Isaiah 41:10 NKJV
Oftentimes when I write a daily post God speaks to me and works in me and on me as I write. I usually spend much more time praying and listening to God than I spent actually writing.
The truth is, even though I have been a writer all my life and I have a Seminary degree (M. Div.), I wouldn’t be able to write and speak without God. The Spirit is my guide and teacher. I know I can do nothing without God’s righteous right hand on me.
A few weeks ago I went on a short trip that would usually take me four hours.
That day when I was two hours away from where I live when I pulled into a gas station to fill the tank. I went inside to get something to drink and when I put the key in the ignition it didn’t start.
Really?
I tried again several more times.
A really nice younger man came along and grabbed his portable battery charger and placed it on the battery.
Nothing.
I called my insurance carrier for a tow.
An hour later, a mechanic took a look at my car and he was able to tell me what they had ruled out. By the end of the day the decided it needed a fuel pump, so they ordered the part.
Day 2: the pump arrived but it didn’t work (not the fault of the mechanic). They determined something was wrong with the part so another fuel pump was ordered. I prayed.
Day 3: the new pump arrived and it was the right pump but it still didn’t start the car. I prayed.
Day 4: I was really nervous and frazzled. I cried and I prayed. I was getting scared.
The Spirit led me to Isaiah 41:10. I wrote about this a few weeks back, but wanted to revisit it because God has kept that verse ON me.
Isaiah 41:10a says:
“Fear not, for I am with you;”
I am reminded that wherever I go, God is right there with me. Even when I am alone and far away from home, God is right here with me.
Isaiah 41:10b says, “be not dismayed, for I am your God.”
God is telling me don’t be discouraged. I AM here for you. I AM your GOD. I WILL be your God. You are not alone.
Isaiah 41:10c says, “I will strengthen you,” and God reminds me that with all the strength that God possesses, He will strengthen me. The Hebrew word for strength is aw-mats’. It can mean be courageous, strong, strengthened, or determined.
My take away from that verse was that I needed to ‘hold fast’ to God’s strength. It wasn’t my strength I was holding onto. It’s God’s strength He is giving me.
Isaiah 41:10d says, “Yes, I will help you,” which is a promise from God to me that He is helping me today and He has a plan to help me in the future.
God WILL help me. No matter what happens, God is with me and WILL help me in the future.
Isaiah 41:10e says, “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
I’ve written about the importance of the right hand in Biblical times. It was and IS a big DEAL. When the Hebrew people in the Old Testament went about their daily lives, the left hand was used to touch unclean things. The right hand was not used to touch unclean things.
The right hand was considered cleansed and was righteous. That means God is holding onto me with His righteous hand and He will continue to hold onto me with His righteous right hand in the future.
It was and is important to me that God sent me this verse two weeks ago and that he is still sending it to me today. God is covering me with this verse. He HAS promised and WILL promise to cover me.
I’m not sure why. It’s not the first time God has given me a verse for ‘a season’. I only know there is always a reason (that I don’t usually know about) that God sends me a specific verse of scripture.
In the past it was because something was happening or was about to happen and God wanted me to know He is EVER so CLOSE by. God is reminding me He is here and He is holding onto me with the righteousness of HIS right hand.
That’s a big deal in Hebrew or in any language.
Part of the reason I love the ancient Hebrew text is that it’s ancient…it’s tried and true. It’s been proven again and again. The Hebrew people passed down the text in verbal form but also kept a written account of the text.
There are actual inscriptions found that date back 3,000 years (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-archaeology/archaeologists-report-finding-oldest-hebrew-text-idUSTRE49T52620081030).
When I was in college in 1973 I took Old English Literature and we had to read Beowulf. It was written around 700 A.D. (https://www.britannica.com/art/Anglo-Saxon-literature). Reading Beowulf really was like reading a foreign language that I had to learn. But in the big scheme of things, it’s a new language when compared to the Hebrew.
Every time I read the Hebrew text I am reminded that for thousands of years others have read that same text. In the case of Isaiah, it would have been written during the 8th Century B.C. (https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-isaiah).
Prior to Seminary I took the text and the ageless-ness of the text for granted. Today I do not because millions of people have read the same verse God gave to me.
Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
God is OUR righteous right hand and like millions who have gone before, He holds onto us.
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Our God is Ageless
Think of Isaiah 41:10 and claim it as your own.
In God, Deborah
acrazyjourney.com
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