Before we dive in lets get some background perspective on chapter eight. God the Father loves His children, I mean really loves them, completely and unconditionally without fail. In response to this beautiful love of The Creator, God's children push Him away. The creation has declared itself wiser and better off without it's Creator. With a broken heart God gives His children countless opportunities to return to His open arms. Time after time they refuse to give Him the only thing He desires; their hearts. He longs to protect them as a father, comfort them as a mother, uplift them as a friend, stand by them as a brother, and cherish them as an intimate companion. "My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it." -Isaiah 8:6 They know they have an emptiness inside but they can only see the shiny temptations of the world as capable fillers. How could an abstract God fill a very concrete heart? So the creation walks away, leaving The Creator behind to mourn the loss of His child. What they didn't realize was that when they left God, they also left His protection.
God was willing to do anything to get His children back. Over and over again He rescued them from their own mistakes and gave them another chance to return. God spared them a final time from their plotting enemies, but instead of turning to God and praising Him for saving them, they rejoiced in the bad things that were happening to their adversaries. When God saw that they had still rejected His love, He gave them over to their own corruptness. The punishment He had placed upon the "plotting enemies" He would also allow on His children.
After God's protection is lifted from His wayward children, we see God caution Isaiah to stay true to Him. God has seen too many of His people walk away from Him to know that every man, even one of God's prophets, is capable of stumbling in the world of temptations. In verses eleven through seventeen Isaiah repeats God's warning to him as a warning to us all. God tells Isaiah not to think like everyone else does, nor dread the things that frighten them. God says He is the only one you should fear in this life, the God of heaven's armies is the only one who should make you tremble. Isaiah goes on to say that if you make God holy in your life He will keep you safe, but those who push Him away He will make to fall. What we read next is the part I really want you to hold on to here. Isaiah makes His own decision known, "I will wait for the Lord…I will put my hope in Him." There were two choices for Isaiah to make, the choice of the wayward child or the choice of the devoted child. Isaiah decided to set himself apart as a child of God. He chose to fill the emptiness in his heart with the very real love of a very real God. He took one look at the pretty temptations shining in all their glory and said "No thank you, I'd rather have God." Let's remember the example Isaiah set for us. When we see those tempting, shiny, world things that clammer to claim a place in our hearts, lets remember that God still protects those who make Him holy in their lives. Let's remember that God's heart still breaks when a child walks away from His love. Let's remember to say "No thank you, I'd rather have God." Let's remember that God's heart is all we need.
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