“But I said, “‘I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
~ Isaiah 49:4
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you wish that you were still living in the same house in which you once lived? Do you wish that you were not living so far away from where you used to live? Do you wish that you could have and do the same things that you used to have and did? These might be questions that might have be going through the mind of a kid whose dad and/or ma – about 2600 years ago, had been living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah who the Babylonian people group army had been picked to take as exiles to their country – which was Babylonia, with other guys, gals and kids who had been living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah, where his or her dad and/or ma would no longer have a house to live in that he and/or she could call home. It would have taken the kid about four months to make with his dad and/or ma the tiring, treacherous 900 or so mile trek from the city of Jerusalem to where he or she would have ended in the country of Babylonia. The kid would have no way to know what was taking place outside the links of communication between his or her exiled people group – which was the Israelite people group of guys, gals and kids – who were God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids. If you had been an Israelite people group kid who was living about 2600 years ago in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah at the time when Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army overran and pillaged your country and city and if your dad and/or ma had been picked to join other guys, gals and kids who the Babylonian people group army was taking with them as exiles back to their country of Babylonia, you would have lost freedom and the right and ownership of whatever that you might have been able to do or have. How would you feel if over the next couple of years, you have everything that you now claim as being yours taken away from you? Would you be okay with having to give up everything that you now have – such as having your own bed to sleep in each night, the ability to buy whatever it is that you want to buy, able to go wherever you want to go, not knowing what is happening anywhere on planet Earth, . . . are you seeing life through a lens today of how bad that you have it or how good that you have it?
Do you have hope? Do you claim promises that assure you hope? Do you know guys and gals who are exuding having hope? Do you serve a God Who communicates that He cares for you? Kids like you – about 2600 years ago, who had been living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah whose dad and/or ma had been arbitrarily picked by the Babylonian people group army to go with other guys, gals and kids who they were taking as exiles to live in their country – which was Babylonia, had hope. The kid had been given promises that would have given him or her hope. The kid had a community of guys, gals and kids who exuded or radiated hope. The kid’s God is Who he or she had hope in. About 100 years before Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army were finally able to breach the walls that surrounded the city of Jerusalem – after Nebuchadnezzar and Babylonian army had invaded the land of Judah, Isaiah scribed Isaiah 49. After Isaiah witnessed the Assyrian people group army doing a number on Israel’s northern kingdom – which was called Israel, Isaiah was prompted by God – as God the Spirit, to scribe about the future of Israel’s southern kingdom – which included the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah. Isaiah wanted the Israelite people group guys, gals and kids who were living the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah to know that even before they were born that their God knew them – that His plan was to have their people group of guys, gals and kids be His specially chosen guys, gals and kids. Isaiah wanted the Israelite people group guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah to know that their God would always protect them from Satan’s plots and enticements even though He would have them become exiles in a foreign nation. Verse 4 clearly states. “But I said, “‘I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”’ Isaiah wanted to have the Israelite people group guys, gals and kids who were living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah to internalize that there was nothing too small for their God to do – which included having a plan in place for them to return to the land from where they would be taken. Isaiah wanted the Israelite people group guys, gals and kids who were living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah to unequivocally know that their God had covenanted a day of salvation for them – which would be the day that they would be free to return to their homes in their country – which is the land of Judah. Isaiah wanted the Israelite people group guys, gals and kids who were living in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Judah to know that their God had a day of condemnation planned for every guy and gal who had oppressed and who will oppress them.
Living an impoverished life is not bad if the spirit of hope is infecting living life. When your grandpaa was living in Bolivia – with your grandmaa, dad and Aunt Lynn, as a South America Mission field team missionary, your grandpaa traveled throughout eastern Bolivia. Your grandpaa ate in houses that had dirt floors, where wooden planks were used to sleep on or hammocks used to sleep in and where subsistence living was hand to mouth. Your grandpaa never heard a guy, gal or kid who he met in villages in Bolivia gripe or complain about his or her plight in life. If a guy, gal or kid has hoping in God embedded in his or her heart, there is no need for having anything else.
Isaiah 49 (953)