For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not, Isaiah 30: 15, NKJV
Dear Lord, as we enter the study of Your Word this day, please help us to internalize the true spirit of salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen
It is so hard for the average person to completely surrender to someone else. Even in the face of imminent danger, when we realize that we cannot save ourselves, we will struggle, and wrestle with the person trying to save us, to the point of harming ourselves and others. I am sure you have heard of stories where someone was drowning, and a kind soul ventured to save the person, and ended up drowning, because the person would not surrender to their help. As in so many other areas of our lives, many of us transfer this attitude of self-help to our dealings with God.
Our promise for today, assures us that it is in “rest[ing]” that we shall be saved. Let us consider how this is possible, by looking at the context in which this verse is set.
The people of God needed help, but who do you think they went to for this help, to the Lord their Maker? No. They decided to go down to Egypt “to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh” (Isaiah 30: 2). They decided to “leave the way, turn aside from the path…and hear no more about the Holy One of Israel” (11). They wanted to hear “smooth things…prophesies of illusions” (10). They would face all kinds of dangers on their way to Egypt, only to find that “Egypt’s help is worthless and empty” (7). The “horses,” especially the “steeds,” that appealed to their sense of safety, would not be swift enough to out-run the enemy. But it didn’t matter, at least they were “helping themselves.”
On the other hand, if they looked to God they would have no need of horses and steeds. They would have no need to flee. God would face their enemies for them, and conquer every one. All they had to do was “return” to their God and “rest” in Him in order to be saved; and as they kept “quiet” before the Lord and “confided“ in His plan of salvation, they would have found the strength they needed to be faithful, and God would have fought their battles for them. But they preferred to trust in the arm of flesh rather than in the everlasting arms that had carried them all these years.
Isn’t that the way we deal with God in our day as well? We try all kinds of man-made, self-help, methods in our quest for happiness, prosperity, and even salvation. But today, as back then, God still calls to us and says, “Rest, and let Me save you. Stop struggling. Stop trying to make yourself ‘good enough.’ That is My job, that is what I do; I create, and I re-create. It is I, who make people over anew. My Name is Jesus, Savior, and I delight in saving people.”
Today, if we will return unto the Lord and rest in Him, He will save us. If we will just take some time to be quiet before Him, and learn to confide in Him, we will find the strength we need to be “more than conquerors,” in all of life’s battles. Won’t you give God the opportunity to save you today?