I’m continuing my study of Isaiah and found an interesting idea in Isaiah 29:3: “I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.”
God through Isaiah’s prediction is telling Jerusalem that it’s as if when the Assyrians soon attack them, that He is the very one doing it. God doesn’t say, “I will place the Assyrians there around you (like he does other places in Isaiah), He says “I” will be camping…setting…raising up. He’s saying, “What is happening to you is me doing it! The Assyrians are my vessels but it’s really me and my purpose is to humble you (vs4) so that you’ll turn back to me.”
I realize afresh that whatever I feel towards Audrey, that is what I’m expressing toward God. If I’m angry and disgusted that she is blocking me from doing that which represents life to me, I’m bucking against God, not Audrey. She is here by His hand, she is not responsible for the “problem” and even would prefer not to be a bother. She would rather not be here at all and that’s why she’s so unhappy. She is actually more cheerful that I would be in these situations.
Diving deeper means looking at the real source of everything that’s happening to us. It’s not just a mistake or happenstance—but God’s purposes being lived out in the person who is the source of us reacting in any unholy manner. If we can see God’s hand in whatever happens to us, and how God intends it to humble us and make us seek Him, then we might have a more holy response.