Isaiah 64:1-9 (NRSV)
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Chapter 64O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence- Verse 2as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! Verse 3When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. Verse 4From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. Verse 5You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.
Verse 6We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Verse 7There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Verse 8Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Verse 9Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
Devotion
Years ago (many), our son always gave this reply when he got into trouble and was asked, "Why did you do that?!" With quivering lip he'd say, "I’m having a bad day ... "
Whether because of something you said—or did—or didn't say or do, when's the last time you had a bad day? And when you have a bad day, do you echo the words of Isaiah, and ... Bob Barker and Drew Carey? Do you, too, cry out to God, “Come on DOWN!” And if you recount God's previous appearances and power-full deliveries but God still seems—well, indifferent—to your plight, then what?
Perhaps your Great Expectations of our Great God do reflect those of Isaiah—or Elijah. Perhaps you look for God to startle from within a fire or earthquake or other life-shattering display. But perhaps, instead, it is time for God's still, small voice. Perhaps this day is yours simply to be shaped by our Almighty Potter.
Prayer
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me ... And don't get too upset over my bad days, Lord God. Forgive that which I've done and that which I've left undone, for it all boils down to the fact you are our God, and we are your people. Amen.