Category: Bible (Page 40 of 356)

I sat in the tiny living room, crowded with expectant followers of Jesus. They started to quietly sing, Am pacea ca un fluviu, Am pacea ca un fluviu…

I literally felt their faith roll through my body. The room where I sat was in Romania, the year 1983. I was a college student on a summer mission. Communist ideologues ruled and religion was forbidden. Yet a group of young believers gathered in defiance and sang a familiar hymn:

I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul…

The government forced one married couple in the room to work on opposite ends of the country due to their faith. They rarely saw each other, but here they sat with their brothers and sisters. Others faced fines and job discrimination. Arrests loomed for outspoken Christians. The Bible was banned. And still they sang about hearts brimming with peace.

The phrase originates in Isaiah. The Lord says, If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.

My Romanian friends paid more attention to the words of God than to the dictates of a corrupt government. Which is good for me to remember when tumultuous politics threaten the peace.

By paying attention to the Lord and his commands, dikes crumble before an ever-flowing tranquility, a freedom from the angst of this world. I will never forget that evening. In the midst of intense pressure this cohort enjoyed a sense of peace originating from the hand of God. The same river flows for me if I’m willing to turn to the Lord and receive it.

Isaiah 48 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jack Anstey

In a wonderfully contemptuous section of scripture, Isaiah skewers those who place their trust in gods represented by hand-made idols.

The metalworker encourages the goldsmith, and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, “It is good.” The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.

Such a goddess! The delightful figure worthy of worship only required a few nails in its base to stand upright.

Isaiah again referred to the divinities a few lines later. See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion. Consisting of mere blowing and bamboozlement, Isaiah mocked gods fashioned by men.

I mock as well, until I consider the idols I experience. An idol is any object, or person, who is not God but worshipped as if they were. Worship means more than simply offering fruit or candy to a statue, like I’ve seen in parts of Asia. I worship when I look to something for my hope and fulfillment above the Lord.

What idols tempt me? Wealth, comfort, ease of mind, a bit of notoriety, a wider reader base. More broadly our society worships influence, political power, and the kick that comes from consuming. Too modern to venerate statues, we instead bathe in reservoirs of self-indulgence.

When I spotlight myself, I’m smack in the realm of wind and confusion. A place of tottering foolishness, I need constant bracing.

But God don’t need no nails to stand up straight. Instead, the Lord holds the worlds in the palm of his hand. With the Lord I replace chaos with order and confusion with wisdom. Which leads to a peaceful hope, a way better outcome than I gain from the gods I create for myself.

Isaiah 41 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Khamkéo

I go to the tap for a drink of water several times a day. I open the refrigerator looking for something to eat. Over and over I unconsciously pull in a breath of air. Every night I lay down for a period of rest. Regularly, without thought or compulsion, I seek out the sources of strength for my physical body.

It takes more intentionality to search for the source of strength for my soul. The psalmist tells us: You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Years later Isaiah doubled down on the earlier promise:

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The verb hope in this passage suggests an exchange of strength. We exchange our frailty for the omnipotent power of God. As a result we can walk day after day after day in confidence and vigor.

God gave power and strength to ancient peoples, and the Lord holds power and strength for you and I as well. If we go to the source, we’ll discover the fortitude our souls crave.

Psalm 68 & Isaiah 40 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jacek Dylag

I believe we can learn a lot from different religions. Hopes for the divine emerge from the earliest recordings of humankind. But while various faith traditions reveal man’s search for the holy, only one truth emerges from the mists. As God revealed to Isaiah:

I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you…from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?

The religious impulses seen throughout history reveal a never-ending search for more than ourselves. We discover needs unable to be met by anyone in our lives. Political leaders, vast wealth and endless pleasures all run dry. Restless hearts only calm in the presence of the Lord.

God tells us, I, even I, am the Lord. In apprehensive days turn to him, for there is no other Savior.

Isaiah 43 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Diana Vargas