the weight of disbelief
S - Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.
Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. - Isaiah 46:1-4 ESV
I am, and there is no one besides me... - Isaiah 47:8, 10 ESV
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me." - Isaiah 48:17-19
O - Deceived in their thinking the Israelites weighed themselves down with their false beliefs about what would provide for and save them. As they journeyed through the desert their trip was made harder with the weight of their idols. Practically their journey to exile could have been easier if they had cast aside their wrong beliefs. More practically, God has provided for them in the desert before. Not only would their loads be lighter, but there would be the water and food they needed. They were not alone. God was waiting for them to turn to him and profit from the richness of life he offered them in every aspect of their lives, though they would find themselves in exile in Babylon.
A - How am I deceived in my thinking? What am I counting on to provide for and protect me that actually is a burden? How am I buying into the belief that "I am, and there is no one beside me"?
P - Lord, as I start this day I feel the weight of things that are out of my control or a result of my lack of "expertise." They directly affect how my family is provided for. Am I in anyway believing that it is me, and me alone, who will provide for and save my family?
I think practically speaking it seems that way to me at times. I am tempted to live as if you do not work on the practical. But I remember. I remember how you led Abraham through the desert. I remember how you kept shoes from falling apart on the way from Egypt. I remember how you protected Nehemiah. I remember how your angels tended to Jesus. I remember how money arrived in the mailbox. I remember how you have been there every step of this last year.
Ask the next question, right? What would you want to say to me today...
Pay attention to my commandments
Your peace is like a river
Your righteouness is like a wave
Your children will always be before me
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