Yes, Lord!
In Isaiah 26.8 we find these incredible words spoken by the prophet of God to the people of God living in an incredible dark and difficult time in their history:
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,
Isaiah 26.8
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
Here we are, thousands of years later, and these words still speak to us today.
These words still teach us how we should live in the middle of the darkness that surrounds us, in the middle of the uncertainty and fear of this present moment, in the midst of our own confusion and fear.
Today, I want to encourage you the same way the prophet Isaiah encouraged the people of God in his own time to say, “YES, LORD!”
YES to OBEDIENCE
First, I want to encourage you to say YES to “walking in the way” of Jesus. To Say YES to obedience.
I know, obedience is NOT a popular word in our world. We live in a world that is concerned with comfort, with having things our way right away, and even with being defiant when we don’t like the rules.
But Jesus said, if you love me you will obey my teaching. (John 14.15, 23)
God once told Saul through the prophet Samuel, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15.22).
The psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and see if there is any offensive way within me.” (Psalm 139.23-24). In other words, show me where I’m not living in obedience to you so that I can change, so I can make a turn, and live my life in obedience to you.
If you want to say, “YES, LORD!” it may start by praying that same prayer and asking God to show you where you’re not living in obedience, where you need to change, where you need to have the humility to repent and begin again walking in His WAY.
YES to the WAITING
I know we don’t like waiting! I’m still waiting for those Amazon drones so we can get a packages even faster! But have you ever thought about the spiritual practice of waiting on God?
Waiting on God is where our faith is formed, where His faithfulness is revealed, and where our worship begins.
When we take matters into our own hands, when we get in a hurry and grow impatient with God, when we refuse to yield to the waiting, we miss out on the opportunity to be transformed and truly put our HOPE in God alone.
When we say YES LORD we have to say yes to the waiting, yes to trusting, and yes to His timing, believing that He really is a good Father and He will work all things together for our good and for His ultimate glory.
YES to His NAME and His RENOWN.
We live in a world of celebrity, where everyone wants to be famous, where everyone wants to be known. And you could live for your name… you could. But one day the curtain will fall and the final act will be complete on the story that is your life.
What I want to suggest is that living for your own name, for your own fame, it’s too small a thing to live for. What if instead, you chose to live for HIS name, HIS renown?
What if you made JESUS, the Name above all names, the NAME you lived your life for? What if His name and his fame and his renown was the true desire of your heart and life?
Now, that’s a Name worth living, and dying, for.
It’s my prayer that we’ll make much of Jesus in our lives, the Name that will be celebrated and worshiped and praised for all eternity.
Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
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