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Your Life in God's Hands
Isaiah 1:21-31
Jim Davis
Have you ever dwelt on what God wants to do with your life? When I think about what God wants to do with my life I think of the endless possibilities within God’s grasps for my life. These possibilities are available for every person regardless of the circumstances of their lives. I remember graduating from high school thinking, “What am I going to do with my life?” This question usually revolves around money and a worldly idea of success. Dwelling on what God wants to do with your life puts a dramatic spin on our lives. It refocuses our lives on the endless possibilities of God.
Life is the most precious thing we have. It certainly ought to be spent for something worthwhile—whatever the cost. Nothing in life comes cheap. Remember whatever you spend your life doing, it all costs the same— You will have to sacrifice your life moment by moment for whatever you pursue—it’ll cost you your life in the end. The smartest thing is to dwell on is what God desires for your life. One road has as many hardships as the other, so let’s just forget about the cost. The cost are the same, the end result isn’t.
Think of all the effort the world is putting into focusing your life on what it thinks is important. Look at the billboard signs, television commercials, radio and television programming, and all the political messages. And believe it or not it’s all designed to focus your life on what others think is important--SELF.
In the 50s there was a magazine called Life. Then came People magazine. Now we have one called Us. What next? A magazine called Me? And now there actually is a magazine called Self. How indicative and indicting of a world infatuated and preoccupied with self.
It may seem as though I want you to focus your life on self, when I ask you dwell on what God wants to do with your life. However, God’s focus on your life takes the focus off of self.
Terrible Price of Focusing on Self
Isaiah reveals the cost of not dwelling on what God wants us to do with our lives. He speaks of it in rather harsh terms, so brace yourself for what we may want to classify as diatribe, but it is actually a message of love. Isaiah is speaking to Jerusalem.
Isaiah 1:21-31
21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot!
She once was full of justice;
righteousness used to dwell in her —
but now murderers!
22 Your silver has become dross,
your choice wine is diluted with water.
23 Your rulers are rebels,
companions of thieves;
they all love bribes and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
the widow's case does not come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:"
Ah, I will get relief from my foes
and avenge myself on my enemies.
25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will thoroughly purge away your dross
and remove all your impurities.
26 I will restore your judges as in days of old,
your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness,
the Faithful City."
27 Zion will be redeemed with justice,
her penitent ones with righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken,
and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
29 "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks
in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens
that you have chosen.
30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves,
like a garden without water.
31 The mighty man will become tinder
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to quench the fire." NIV
The Jewish religion had become a burden to the Lord. The Jews were pretending to be faithful with their many sacrifices, feasts, and prayers, while mistreating their fellowmen in daily life. They were not living up to their calling as God’s chosen people.
Isaiah writes, “See how the faithful city [Jerusalem] has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her — but now murderers!” The murders here are primarily oppressors, not those who literally kill people. They were looking out for number one. In doing so they were more than willing to oppress anyone to get what they wanted. Isaiah 1:15 speaks of Israel’s hands being full of blood. Here Isaiah calls them murders. Unfair treatment of the underprivileged and defenseless to get what you want is murder in God’s eyes. It is robbing them of the life God desires for them.
Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2 to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless. NIV
Have you noticed how hoarding and flaunting our possessions has replaced sharing and caring. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “A life not lived for others is not worth living.” Isaiah writes, “Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.” Isaiah is not talking about their earthly riches fading away because of their sinfulness. The silver and wine spoken of here represented their lives. He is speaking about how their self-seeking lives led them to a degenerate life. Such self-seeking makes our world an oppressive degenerate place to live. To create such a world where everyone is out to get what they think should be coming to them is to literally destroy our world and every life that comes into this world. It creates a murderous environment—just look around you.
The end of our current emphasis on SELF is not life, but disappointment and ultimately death! Happiness is not found in the pursuit of happiness. Life is not found in the pursuit of life. They are byproducts of a life found in a pursuit of God and His righteousness. As Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6).
Isaiah paints a disturbing picture of the consequences of self-serving people—he calls them harlots and murders. Our world cries—look out for number one. "The world measures a man's greatness by the number who serve him. Heaven's yardstick measures a man by the number who are served by him."
I know those, and you know those, who have pursued their selfish ways whose lives are in ruin. This is the terrible price for focusing life on self. Paul paints a picture of those who refuse to glorify God because of their self-seeking ways.
Romans 1:21-25
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen. NIV
Romans 1:28-32
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. NIV
I heard where a newborn baby was thrown out of a car window in Ft. Lauderdale this past week. The baby’s umbilical cord was still attached. This story has changed in the last couple of days. The lady took the baby to the police and told them someone had thrown it out the window of her car. Now they have found out the baby was actually her baby. It had never been thrown out the car window. She just didn’t want the baby and thought that would be a sure way to get rid of it. Nevertheless, it’s the message of the world in capsule form. The message is, live for selfish pleasure and discard others that get in your way as garbage. It is a murderous attitude.
Self-destruction is the only way to describe a world refusing to seek God’s glory. I hope we are able to understand that you cannot rob others of what rightfully belongs to them without robbing yourself. Conversely, you can’t love others without loving yourself. Paul says a man who loves his wife loves himself (Ephesians 5:28). This is not only true in marriage; it is true in all of life.
What God Wants to Do With Your Life
Many have taught Christianity in a way that leaves others thinking that God wants to enter our lives as a killjoy. Somehow the Israelites had convinced themselves of this, so they sought a life without God. They delighted in their sacred oaks—it means they sought happiness without God. They sought to carve out their own personal gods to fulfill their selfish desires. They may have been like their modern day counterparts—they felt this emptiness inside which longed to be filled. The emptiness came from turning away from God.
Have you noticed how people are unfulfilled? We seek another thrill, more stuff, another partner, another job, a better position. It is emptiness only God can fill. God can give you the life you deserve. You may think that God only reserves this for a chosen few. However, he has chosen this for every life in Christ.
Allowing God to reclaim our lives to his glory is the purpose of salvation. God is castigating Israel for their murderous ways, but in the same breath he speaks of how he wants Israel to share in his glory.
Isaiah says, “Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.” God seeks to coax Israel back by telling them he will remove their sinfulness—if only she would repent. He promises to restore them to be his City of Righteous—the Faithful City. Despite their degenerate ways God wanted his glory to shine through them again. Of course, they needed to repent.
We may think we have to convert the world before we can enjoy the life of God. A better world begins with your conversion, and then it spreads to the world. I have known families being converted to God through the conversion of a child. It is possible to change the competitive atmosphere in the work place to an attitude of cooperation through the conversion of one person. Conversion makes it possible to turn people from isolation to a community. It turns the prejudice promoting abuse into respect that demands honor and right treatment. It turns nagging and criticism into encouragement. It is even the catalyst for making hardhearted souls into sensitive human beings.
You may be waiting for someone to change the world order of things so you can get what you think is coming to you. Many are waiting for the church to change its order of things so they can get what they think should be coming to them. Many are waiting for their marriage partner to fill their emptiness. Many are looking for their bosses to fill their lives only to find themselves put out in the cold when push comes to shove. Salvation is about God fulfilling you when all these are failing you.
Think where salvation begins. It began with the thief on the cross—have you ever wondered how many have been converted to God because of his conversion on that cruel cross? It began with a sinful woman who wiped Jesus feet with her tears in the midst of self-righteous Pharisees. It can begin in the midst of a fellowship more intent on building a church than building lives. What if I told you God’s plan salvage you begins right where you are sitting.
Salvation is about God using you to make a difference in a cruel world. Stop looking for the right church, the right circumstances, the right partner, the right position. It begins with the position you find yourself in today. That is where he wants to begin his rule in your life.
God didn’t tell Moses he had all the right stuff or his circumstances were idea. When he called Moses he simply told him, "I will be with you." God doesn’t tell Moses that he is wonderfully gifted. He doesn’t tell him that he has more talent than he realizes. He doesn’t tell him that his problem is low self-esteem. He tells Him that what Moses lacks, God will supply.
“I believe there are many who have not responded to God’s call on their lives--many who may miss opportunities to flame brightly for Him, like a radiant city shining on a hilltop. I speak to so many who are waiting for some kind of curious sign in the heavens, some engraved invitation hand delivered by an angel, some wondrous, mystical moment. And all God is waiting for is to hear you say, "I’m here, Lord. I’m Yours, thorns and all. Just set me afire." (Charles Swindoll, Moses, p. 107)
Do you know why it is hard to discover the glorious life God created us for? We are convinced it is something that the church must do for us. We get hooked on the notion that the glorious life God wants is something the church must give us. We look for a new church program or a gimmick. We spend too much time in group therapy. By this I mean we want the entire church to move in the direction we think we need to go personally. You can’t wait on the church. You can’t wait on your family to make the move. You can’t wait until people treat you like you think you ought to be treated. You must move now. It is the only way to discover the life God intends for you to have.
God does not exert his power in our lives until we begin moving toward him. Abraham was 75 years old when he made his move toward God—God empowered his move. Jacob made his move toward God after failing in trying to cheat everybody he met. He ended up with a stone for his pillow. He fled from his father-in-law—he was forced to wrestle with God and he won. He limped for the rest of his life but he won. God wants you to wrestle with his ways—God will see that you win.
Joseph was living in slavery when he made his move toward God—God empowered his move. He was imprisoned for honoring God’s blessings upon his life—God delivered him. Moses was transformed from fugitive murderer to unlikely leader and spiritual mentor when he stopped running from himself and began moving toward God.
Conclusion:
Do you know what we need? We need to be filled with the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. We must allow his gentle presence to turn our lives into fruit-bearing lives. It begins with God’s work in your mind and heart. It begins with changing the way we think.
Philippians 4:8-9
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. NIV
It doesn’t matter what you are facing. It doesn’t matter what God has called you to do or to endure . . . you can do it if you move in His strength! If only you will allow God to fill that emptiness inside you. It is an emptiness God desires to fill with his Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-19). When God’s Spirit fills us we will be filled with God’s glory. It’s the only way to live a fulfilled life.
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?"
Bible Study Questions
What does God want to do your life?
What does the world want you to focus your life on?
What is the cost of spending your life on what God wants? On what the world wants?
What kind of picture does Isaiah paint of self-seeking people in Isaiah 1:21-31?
How does Paul describe self-seeking lifestyles in Romans 1:21-32?
What are the signs of unfulfilled lives?
Where does a fulfilled life begin?
How does God’s purpose for your life affect your personal world?
How does the circumstances you find yourself in affect God’s potential for your life?
Why is it so hard to discover the glorious life God created us for?
When Does God exert his power in our lives?