Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58 was our theme at a church retreat in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains about a month ago. And that passage keeps popping back in my mind. Isaiah was talking about his times, and really, it is applicable to today also.

Redwood Christian Center, Santa Cruz

Isaiah talks about an oppressed people in a sun-scorched thirsty land..yup, that is America. More and more desperate acts of gun violence erupt now. People don’t know what to do about themselves. Hit and run fatalities are commonplace on highways and even in city streets. Then the mental health issues cause people giving up on life. Homelessness, etc., etc....in a word, Oppression.

I would say I have read through Isaiah 58 two or three times so far in my 28-yr walk with Jesus. But this month God revealed something about myself.

The following in Isaiah 58:2-3 describes me, (substituting I for “we” )


2 For day after day I seek God out and seem eager to know God’s ways,
as if I were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
I ask God for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have I fasted,’ I say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have I humbled myself,
    and you have not noticed?’

Much has been given to me lately. But as I’ve been saying lately, “I’m feeling unsettled.” “I should be enjoying retirement, yet what is going on with me?”

Isaiah 58:9-10 speaks God’s solemn, sobering truth with a loving promise...an “If, Then statement.”

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always...”

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the hearts of many (my heart) will grow cold.” 
I am guilty of “the pointing finger”, the blaming and malicious talk (mostly in my head). I’m in the habit of looking the other way, and think the problems are too much for me to make much of a difference. Yes, don’t deceive yourself Julie. It’s easier to be a bystander, or retreat into safe self protect mode, than to put myself out there in faith, and make an effort to be there for people. 

Isaiah 58:13-14
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord...”

I have been contemplating lots of options, none of them seemed clear. Should I work again just to spend more? Then there is temptation to compare myself with other retirees, which does not lead to inner peace but mostly to envy. Travel beckons strongly, though we really don’t have that strong a desire, and to do so would mean living beyond our means. I can nap whenever I want. Yes, the allure of idle aimless selfish pleasure-seeking has been SO STRONG.

I have to say also there a sense of entitlement in me that makes me justify to myself that it’s now time for ME. Another word for self-centeredness with no room for God. How can I arrange MY time? 

Sadly, that is not true for the majority in this world. Much has been given to me, much is expected.

James 1:22-25 says God’s word is a mirror. I’m glad that God is right with me to help point my path. To help me keep in step with Jesus and not run ahead or away from him. It says in Isaiah 58:10 says “The Lord will guide you always.”  I’m so grateful that my Lord starts with my heart, clears up any confusion, and promises to guide and navigate this complicated world. And if I make a wrong turn, He opens my eyes, forgives and reassures His Love for me, and helps me learn and grow.