October 5-11
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Are you feeling completely torn down? Are you feeling discouraged about what you have to offer? Do you feel hollowed out after a time of refining fire?
Isaiah includes many warnings to Israel. The Lord allowed them to be smitten and scattered and left without anchor for a while in order to turn them back to Him. These warnings are good reminders for us in our day as they can contribute to our desire to repent. We can observe patterns and try to avoid the same traps.
But Isaiah also includes many words of comfort about the Savior. Isaiah reminds Israel of the promises that were made to them so long ago. These words of comfort and promises are equally applicable in our lives.
Isaiah 51 is one of these chapters filled with promises and encouragement from the Lord. Israel is finding itself completely torn down, discouraged, and hollowed out. They are not a mighty people any longer. They have been scorned and trampled on. Here is where the Lord starts to lift them up again.
Isaiah 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
The rock in scripture often refers to the Savior, but in this particular chapter, the Lord is referring to someone else.
Isaiah 51:2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
The rock and hole of the pit are Abraham and Sarah. Why is the Lord telling Israel to look unto Abraham and Sarah at this particular point in the timeline? Surely they were good examples of righteousness, but the Lord’s encouragement is a bit more purposeful than that.
He is essentially telling Israel, “You feel hopeless about Israel? Look at where you came from! Abraham and Sarah were one couple, just one! They were completely alone, separated from family and any society they had known, but I chose them. They were childless, but I turned them into a great nation. If I can work with them, scorned and downtrodden and alone, then I can work with you. If I can multiply them into a mighty nation, then I can multiply whatever I need to with you.”
Isaiah wants Israel to remember that their entire nation came from something that the world would have labelled as “nothing.” How can we take Isaiah’s advice? How can we look unto the rock from whence we have been hewn?
We can look directly at Abraham and Sarah, but there have been many mighty miracles performed on behalf of the Lord’s fallen, bereft people. There are examples all throughout the scriptures of the Lord taking care of His people and making something from nothing, but there are also stories in our personal and family histories that we can look to for comfort, encouragement, and hope.
There was a time when Conner and I found ourselves in some financial trouble. We had just made a significant investment and within a couple of weeks of that investment, found ourselves with some unexpected bills. We were in a rather large deficit every month, and we had no idea how we were going to make it work. We explored all of the options we could think of with little success.
I talked to my sister during that time period, and she told me some of those miraculous tithing stories from our own family. My parents couldn’t afford their electric bill and a clerical error meant that they didn’t get an electrical bill for several months; the gigantic bill hit right when my father got a commission. My sister couldn’t pay one of her bills until someone felt a huge prompting to hand her an envelope of money with almost exactly how much she needed.
My sister told me something profound alongside these miraculous stories, “The Lord’s math is not our math.” He calculates things very differently and has an abundance from which to bless us. Just look at what the Lord can do with so little.
Now, I used financial examples, but this goes for anything you feel lost on. There have been times in my life where I swear the Lord has paused the clock, and I have found myself with extra pockets of desperately needed time. I have found this to be true in terms of my abilities, strength, endurance, and faith. His math has not been my math. He can make a mighty nation from a forlorn, childless, lost couple. He can make me whatever I need to be.
1 Nephi 17:50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
If God commanded me to do ALL things, I could do them. Don’t look at your lack. Look at God’s abundance. This is all very easy for Him. That doesn’t mean He’s going to make it easy on you because that would take away from His eternal purposes of turning you into something glorious, but don’t be afraid of having nothing to offer. He can work with nothing but humility and a desire to follow Him.
What is wonderful about the specific example of Abraham and Sarah is that the Lord blessed them according to their desires. They wanted posterity so desperately. This wasn’t just about multiplying them for His own purposes. He multiplied them and gave them according to their deepest hopes and dreams. He started with a rejected husband and a barren wife and gave them enough posterity to fill the entire world.
I testify that it doesn’t matter what kind of deficit or fragility or brokenness you bring to the table. The Lord can turn it into a mighty nation. He can turn you into a “mighty nation.” He can multiply and multiply and multiply and fulfill your deepest desires and hopes and dreams. You don’t need to fear having nothing. He can work with that if you turn to Him.
