Isaiah 30:18-36: The Lord’s Favor
Friday, March 15, 2024
The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .
During Lent we so often beat ourselves up, tossing around guilt in an effort to expiate our activity or inactivity in God’s plan. In a Bible Concordance, the word favor is cited too often to analyze quickly but the enormity of the number of times we see its use tells us something about our creator.
The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .
Those who give are so often wrapped in giving to others, they forget to be the recipient of gifts from others.
Those who advocate are so frequently caught up in the work of justice, they become accustomed to life always being a struggle.
Those who are frequent recipients of favor from God and others, they may take it as a given, as a requisite to measure the worth of a day, as an entitlement.
The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .
Perhaps the favors we seek are before us at all times, and the miracle occurs when we truly open our eyes to see them.
Perhaps the words we long to hear are being said but are lost in the cacophony of life.
The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . . He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as he hears he will answer you . . . No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, while from behind a voice shall sound in your ears: ‘This is the way; walk in it,” when you would turn to the right or left.
There is a tag hanging on the doorknob of the workroom in my classroom that reads: When the student is ready, the master appears. I first read this a number of years ago in the I Ching and was happy to find this tag in a shop while vacationing with my children and grandchildren at the ocean. I love to put my hand on that door – the door behind which we store tests, make coffee, have quiet chats.
The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .
Perhaps all we need to do during this Lenten season is to store away our tests, make coffee . . . and rest in the friendship of God and one another.
The Lord is waiting to show you favor . . .
A Favorite from February 26, 2009.
For more on the I Ching, visit: http://www.iging.com/intro/introduc.htm
Image from: http://www.ifate.com/i-ching.html
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