Isaiah 48:17

 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go ~ Isaiah 48:17


 

The lessons of life come in various forms – some we enjoy while others we wish had never occurred. What this verse is saying is that God doesn’t always teach us in a profitable, or what we would call a “good” way, because it may hurt, it may stretch, it may call us to repentance. He does however teach us how to get the profit out of all our experiences. He grants to us the power to take the good and refuse the evil; to absorb the “honey and reject the poison”. I think of the verse in 2 Corinthians 1:4 where Paul writes that God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in trouble with the same comfort God has given to us. It often is not until we reach the other side of our problem that we can see where the hand of God was working for us, and then we are grateful. That is the good; it is the honey. We must learn through our trials that our confidence in God will not be shaken, that He does want what is best for us and that He has plans for us as Jeremiah 29:11 says. I know it is hard to see this in the dark times and in the midst of a struggle; often it is undetectable at the time in the thing He is sending to us. God puts it into our hearts though to see that which is good, to delve into the deeper meanings God will lead and admit us to see. It takes in us a reverent acceptance of His teaching, hard work, and a good life. It is not always easy following the Lord, but when we do, when we trust, when we come through the lesson, our soul is always the better for it, for we have been cleansed in the fire of the trial.

Pastor Julia

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