What it taught me about God, blogging, and myself.
Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash
Almost three years ago, sitting still in the chaos of COVID, I decided to study the prophecy of Isaiah. It was something I’d long intended to do. I’d read snatches of it here and there, mostly in the red letters of the New Testament. I’d heard its verses quoted often, but I didn’t know the context. But I knew that Jesus knew the book very well, and to understand more of Jesus, I needed to understand more of Isaiah. I also knew myself well enough to know my attainment often falls short of my intentions, that my excitement at the start often wanes before I reach the end. So I decided to invite others to study along with me.
I started a blog — something else I’d long intended to do — and set a goal of a post a week. I wanted my readers to count on my consistency and me to embrace accountability. I didn’t always make my goal. Some weeks the learning was so hard, and sometimes my writing was so weak. But I didn’t quit. Sixty-eight weeks later, as a kind of Christmas present to my readers and myself, I put a period at the end of my blog about the book of Isaiah.
Working through the book was tough. I got tired of Isaiah’s repetition — until I realized it was a demonstration of the tenacious faithfulness of God. I struggled with the strange metaphors — then remembered the book wasn’t written to me but delivered with words and in ways that the people present with Isaiah could understand. I came to appreciate the work of commentators and the tools available to me as a follower from another culture — but I had to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit to shape what I had to say. I was thrown off balance by the mid-verse changes in direction — words of anger one moment, words of love and mercy the next, but by them, I learned the meaning of “His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime.”
In the midst of harsh words, Isaiah makes it quite clear that God’s issue is not with those who have not heard, but with those who will not hear. The intense interplay of justice and redemption reveals the kindness and severity of God. His repeated entreaties reveal the longing of God for a people who love Him. His promises assure us of the restoration of God’s chosen, the redemption of the Gentiles, His revealing to the nations, and the beauty of our union in Zion.
In the pages of Isaiah, I saw the incredible plan of God to bring redemption to the world through the love of a faithful Father, the sacrifice of His courageous Son, and the ever-present leading of the Holy Spirit as He prepares us for the coming of the King.
Studying Isaiah and blogging about it was worth every minute, every word, every edit. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that it marked me forever.
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