ISAIAH 12:2-6
2 Surely God is my salvation;I will trust and not be afraid.The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense;He has become my salvation.”3 With joy you will draw waterfrom the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim His name;make known among the nations what He has done,and proclaim that His name is exalted.5 Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things;let this be known to all the world.6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Isaiah 12:2-6 GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY
Springford Baptist Church: October 9, 2022.
A little boy is climbing the steps of a slide at the playground. The steps are big and the boy looks very small. Finally, after a great deal of effort, he reaches the top and stands on the platform. “I can’t believe I made it,” he exclaims.
For all of us there are these kind of challenges in life, where the steps ahead of us seem to require so much and we wonder if we will be strong enough to make it. It is in the midst of the climbing, that all of us can become tired and long for strength for just one more step.
There is strength required for the steps that must be climbed. All of us need strength for today and that is what God provides for us. If we ask the question, “Who cares? the answer is loud and clear, “God cares”! When we come to the end of all we have, we find that God is there and offers what we need!
I continue to be inspired by the faith of those who face hard times, the hardest of times and keep trusting God to help them.
These are the kinds of experiences we were sharing amongst the women at our Mission Circle group this past week. We were recalling together that even in the hardest of times we can thank God. We thank God that He promises to be with us and that He will never leave us alone, facing life by ourselves. Some of those steps that others have taken and are taking we may know about and some not. It is God’s strength and care available to us that allows us to live through the good times and the hard times, the joys and the struggles of our lives.
Our Scripture for today anticipates that when going through the hardest of times, there will come a time of giving thanks to God.
In Isaiah 12, we are reading about a song of praise that will be sung when God restores His people. The people of Israel went through an extended time of exile and captivity. Still God was with them and ultimately was their salvation. We read:
2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)
This Scripture continues,
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
There will come a time when God will save them from captivity and they will drink eagerly the water of their salvation. Remember when the people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness and God provided water for them to drink? (Exodus 17:1-7) In the same way, when they experience the hard time of their exile, and thirst for their return home, there will come a time of drawing from the wells of salvation and drinking deeply. This will be a time of joy.
Next we read,
4 In that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim His name;make known among the nations what He has done,and proclaim that His name is exalted. (Isaih 12:4)
When we do experience God with us in the hard times and God bringing us through the hard times, our natural response will be to give thanks to the LORD. We will also want others to know what God has done!
We find, don’t we, that we cannot imagine others facing the heartaches and hard times of life without this knowledge, this recognition of being able to turn to God and to find strength in Him?
For any of us, the thought of making our life journey alone is not a pleasant one. We can be grateful for those who share the journey with us and speak words of encouragement and hope, those who urge us to take another step. God provides these people and they are truly a gift, but God does even more. He promises to walk with us and talk with us and truly God Himself gives us strength. It is strength for today that comes because God is with us and will never leave us alone. God promises to be with us because God cares for us so deeply.
All of us need strength for today. When we sit at the bedside of loved ones, we need strength for today. When we say goodbye to loved ones, we need strength for today. When we face the continuing of life after that loved one has gone home to heaven, we need strength for today. Today I give thanks to God that we can face what we must face because of God who gives us strength, strength for today. We can face the uncertainties of tomorrow because we know God will never leave us alone. God cares!
The collective acknowledgement of God actively with those who trust Him is expressed in these words:
5 Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things;let this be known to all the world.6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” (Isaiah 12:5,6)
We thank God that we can know with confidence that the Holy One, the living God is among us!
We return to the young boy who was climbing the steps of the slide. What we could not see was that his father was there helping him. The father was telling him he could do it and in some cases, as the father stood underneath the slide, he lifted the feet of his young son up to the next step. Because the father was there, the boy was able to reach his destination. He was given strength! His father cared so much for his child!! Our Father God is like that for each one of us!
He travels with us all through life giving us strength for each day and then one day He calls us to our eternal home with Him, our final destination.
In the midst of the hard times, we can look for God and when we have experienced the reality of his Presence, we can thank Him.
For God with us always and caring so deeply for us always, we give thanks to our God!