Isaiah Chapter 63 – Afflicted in our Afflictions
Amidst a seemingly daunting and heavy passage, its groundwork is a clear message and reassuring reminder of God’s never ceasing lovingkindness.
In verse 9 of this chapter, ‘In all their affliction He was afflicted,’ Isaiah affirms the certain unchanging nature of God; that in the afflictions of His chosen people, in the thick of all their pain, oppression and struggle, He too, is just as, if not even more, afflicted. God does not watch with folded arms from a distance, is not a dispassionate, unfeeling observer.
The greatest grace and blessing we can receive from God in this life is the sole fact that we have been chosen by Him, not for any grand reason(s), or any accumulation of good deeds / merit; but just because He chose to.
“Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”” (Exodus 33 : 19)
“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7 : 7 – 9)
Know without a doubt that the Lord our God is God – the same God who chose to love the Israelites is our God. God’s choices are based on nothing more than His unfathomable love and faithfulness to His word.
In the everyday, regardless of the circumstances God has allowed us to land in, take heart, keep the faith and hold on to hope, He will deliver in due time, on His own terms.
