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Be Encouraged

This week I've been praying about a certain matter with my family.  I prayed, Lord, please help us make right decisions.  Help us to be in the right place at the right time so we don't miss what you are about to do in our lives.  One morning as I got into my car, I noticed a Bible scripture that comes to me phone via The Bible app.  The Scripture is found in Isaiah 30:21 which states, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'  I was blown away to say the least!  Last night, I read several verses preceding this one and several after it.  Even more encouragement came to my spirit.  I would like to share it with you.  The passage may seem a little lengthy, but it is so worth the read! 
So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.  For the Lord is a faithful God.  Blessed are those who wait for his help.

O people of Zion...you will weep no more.  He will be gracious if you ask for help.  He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.  Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you.  You will see your teacher with your own eyes.  Your own ears will hear him.  Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.  Then you will destroy all your silver idols and your precious gold images.  You will throw them out like filthy rags, saying to them, “Good riddance!”

Then the Lord will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your livestock. The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff blown away by the wind.  In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered and the towers fall, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill.  The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days in one! So it will be when the Lord begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.

Look! The Lord is coming from far away, burning with anger, surrounded by thick, rising smoke.  His lips are filled with fury; his words consume like fire.  His hot breath pours out like a flood up to the neck of his enemies.  He will sift out the proud nations for destruction.  He will bridle them and lead them away to ruin.

But the people of God will sing a song of joy, like the songs at the holy festivals.  You will be filled with joy, as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem, the mountain of the Lord — to the Rock of Israel.
What I take from this passage is this...the hard trials we have all been through have been ordained from God to purify us.  He tells us in His word, that He will heal us from the hurts and cure the wounds He inflicted - wounds brought about by the cleansing process. So, in other words, all we have to do is ask for help, put away those things - idols - that we have put before Him in our lives, and REJOICE in the redemption of the Rock of Israel!

...And again I say, "Rejoice!"



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