December 2, 2021 "An Unexpected Gift"

I found today's entry to be very reassuring. The Bible passage describes the plans that the enemies of the Israelites are making to destroy Judah. The booklet explains it as, "Not good news." We have certainly had our share of "not good news" recently. I'm reminded of the quote from the Moderna CEO about the new COVID variant-- "This is not going to be good. . . ."

But, God tells Isaiah that those enemy threats aren't going to happen, not now, not ever. He's got this covered, and He's even going to send a sign. (I admit that I'm a bit confused about the comfort in that "sign," the birth of Jesus, because it won't happen until 800 years later.) But there is the clear message that God is watching out for His people. I know that history--even recent history--shows us that sometimes bad things DO happen to God's people, but these verses show that in God's "big picture" perspective, it's all going to work out. (Maybe in His perspective, 800 years is just a wink?)

I like the quotable line at the end of verse 9, especially because of the word play: "Have firm faith, or you will not stand firm."