Israel had no excuse to not trust God. They had been cared for impeccably by God like a carefully kept vineyard. The question begs though: If God cares for Israel, then why had she suffered so much? Isaiah’s answer is that this suffering will be used as a means to Israel’s cleansing. It is not for her destruction but for her redemption. Though her enemies claimed a victory over Israel, God would turn their triumph to desolation and Israel’s defeat to triumph. If you are allowed to suffer for some reason it may not be because of some sin. But there is no doubt that hardship refines and re-orients us when we get carried away in the wrong direction. There have been many times of hardship in my life that I now remember not as loss but gain. I have asked God to do whatever it takes to wake me up and restore me if I stray from him and God has answered this prayer time and time again. Each time this happens, though the wake-up calls have been hard, I have made a point of acknowledging the answer to prayer and recommitting myself to that desire. I say to God, “If you are bringing me back to you, then that is best, whatever it may cost me”. Whatever your problems may be, your biggest problem at any point in your life is the extent to which you are astray from God. May God do whatever it takes to restore you if you should stray. That is what a caring parent would do. May God love you accordingly.
Dedicate yourself to God’s care.
Read Isaiah 27
