I listened closely as one of my favorite writers shared his life verse. Slightly embarrassed, he smiled as he explained to us that while he studied the Bible carefully and took seriously the injunction to rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15), he actually took his verse out of context!

I thought of him this morning when I read the verse he referenced, I will make you a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.

The passage refers to the Lord’s redemption of Israel. But these same words motivated a humble man to communicate in powerful and effective ways. This leader devoted his life to destroying the arguments of the enemy of our souls and pointing people to the Lord.

Maybe a little out of context, but certainly in the spirit of the text. A couple lines earlier Isaiah wrote, I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

The Lord waits to take our hand, to calm our fears, and to help in our times of need. But don’t forget that beyond all that, the Lord stands ready to create threshing sledges out of his humble followers.

Pretty good life verse, even out of context.

Isaiah 41 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Hannah Shedrow

I originally posted this content on September 10, 2021. I reread the passage this past week and wanted to share these thoughts again.