If your faith has become a race in which you have lost sight of God what can you do. What hope is there for those who have become so entangled in their self-built religion? What if you feel that you have strayed from God? “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:9-11 Will you cry out to God? Will you desire that your heart be burdened for Him? Will the hungry of the world burden you? Do the aching hearts of the people of the world cause your heart to ache? Ask God to burden your heart to reach out to a hurting world to be His light in the darkness.

Have you placed your hope in God? Is the dilemma that you face one of trust and dependence? “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,’ declares the LORD. ‘And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: ‘My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.’” Isaiah 59:20,21  A redeemer came through Israel to the world. Jesus Christ lives today so that you may live tomorrow. The first step toward being a light in the dark world is for you to see the light yourself. Will you trust that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin for you?

The beauty of God’s grace is that it is not and exclusive club that requires premium membership. The wonderful salvation of God is available to everyone who calls out to God. Isaiah 56 proclaims the all inclusiveness of God’s grace. “Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely separate me from his people’; and let not the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For thus says the LORD: ‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.’” Isaiah 56:3-5  God defines worth where there is worthlessness. God displays His faithful grace to the broken of this world. God includes those who dwell on the fringe of society, culture, and acceptance. Even when the battle lies in our mind God destroys the voice of doubt and proclaims worth. Are you filled with hope because of God?

Are you an enemy of God? Do you believe that you can do anything you set your heart towards? Has pride overtake your life? You are living a life that will not last forever. God promises that He will not strive against the evil of this world forever. “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.’” Isaiah 57:15,16

The time has come for you to choose today who you will serve. I cannot make you decide today to follow God. The choice is yours to make. God may be the ethereal being to you who exists only in thought but I challenge you to dwell upon the truths found in Scripture. I challenge you to cry out for help. God restores. God renews. God loves. Turn aside from your life of idols and seek out God.

The answer to finding hope in despair is found in Isaiah 54. Hope for the hopeless. Joy for the downcast. Love for the unloved. “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.” Isaiah 54:4-6  We are complete only when we are with God. There is no other thing in heaven or on earth that will satisfy the desires of our hearts. We must identify ourselves with God alone.

Do you have to win this wonderful completeness that is found in God? Do we have to start this process and get to the benchmark of success before God will acknowledge us? “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Isaiah 55:1,2  The wonderful truth of God’s love is present in Isaiah 55. Come and drink anyone who thirsts. Come and drink freely no money can buy this drink because there is no price. The love of God is freely given. The idea of something being free is contrary to the ideologies we encounter on a daily basis. The world tells us that we must work hard to fulfill all of our desires. God is telling us that we need not toil for His love because it has been extend towards us long before we ever knew we were desiring that great love. Do not waste your life striving to make yourself complete. Trust in God alone to make you whole.

Listen to the words in Isaiah. Realize these words are speaking to your condition. Will you seek the LORD while he may be found? Will you call upon him while he is near? God is ever present and waiting for you to come to Him. You need not clean up your life before coming to Him. Will you start your journey of faith? Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sin? Today can be the beginning of your hope filled future. Will you trust? Will you believe?

Have you gotten the point? Have you seen the flaw of humanity? We believe life is all about us and what we do. It does not matter who we are or what we have acquired. Our life is all about God and not about the idols that we have built up and forged through our wanton lives.

Isaiah 44 portrays our lives full of idols perfectly. Take a moment and read the story found in Isaiah 44. What do you see in this story? There are craftsmen who have toiled and worked to make a living in life. ”The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.” Isaiah 44:13-15 Out of his toil the carpenter made a living but he also built an idol that became all he worshiped.

Does this tale of idolatry hit home in your life? Why do you toil and work away day after day? Do you desire to build up wealth, possessions, and prowess? We must be on guard that we do not become more killed at creating idols than living a life devoted to God. ”They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, ‘Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’ He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’” Isaiah 44 18 -20  Do not become disillusioned that your salvation is obtained from the things you collect. Idols promise to give you everything but they only leave you helplessly deluded grasping for more things to quench the thirst in your weary soul.

We must take heed and guard our lives and the lives of our families. There is nothing more important than the relationship we have with God. “Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.” Isaiah 44:10,11  Hold on to the beautiful truth that grace was given to you to bring you the hope of salvation. Jesus Christ is our hope. Delight in Him alone and you will never be disappointed.

Isaiah 30 continues to portray what motivates the hearts of mankind. “Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, ‘Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.’” Isaiah 30:12-14 When we let sin cloud our hearts without any true hope we learn to trust oppression and perversion. We hold onto what little things seem to offer us hope but we find ourselves never truly satisfied. Isaiah continues to tell of how when we live in such a hopeless state we become trapped. There is no hope that we can escape.

Thankfully Isaiah also tells us the source of true and lasting hope in chapters 29 and 39. “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 29:18,19 and “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, ‘Be gone!’” Isaiah 30:18-22 These verses in Isaiah foreshadow the coming of hope into the world. A lasting hope that we all desire.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world allowing the deaf to hear the Gospel of Grace, allowing the blind to see Hope, and the captive to find freedom. We are given a great hope in Jesus Christ that we can walk through this life knowing and trusting that there is a purpose beyond the present moment. When we taste that pure hope we will no longer desire the idols of this world but we will say that Jesus Christ is truly enough for us.

The promise that God gave in Isaiah was not to only meet the physical needs of the people of Israel. God’s knowledge of the human condition goes much deeper into the heart of mankind. He knows the deep sorrow and turmoil in the hearts of man because of the curse of sin. God purposed to heal the inherent brokenness within the hearts of mankind. The coming Messiah would shatter all perceptions of authority and and hope by releasing mankind from the shackles of sin. How often do you think of your life like the Israelites viewed the promise of God? Is your vision for life only on the physical needs you have? God knows you completely and he knows that the need you have goes to the heart of your existence. We were created to be in fellowship with God. God loved you so much that He sent Jesus Christ into the world to bring you back to him. The plethora of worldly desires and wants we perceive do not come close to our unforeseen rampant thirst for God. You need a Savior. His name is Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters for your life but knowing Jesus Christ. Will you call upon the name of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

Is Solomon giving us an excuse to go looking for a lover in the dark of night? Is this a call to follow our lust? By no means is this a call to live a carnal live. Look at what is happening and who is being sought? Would a watchman be consulted if you were sneaking about? Would it be natural for a woman of Solomon’s day to go walking about the city at night? This woman is desperately in love and she desired to find this love above all else.

“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” Song of Solomon 3:5  Love should only be sought in God’s time. Many people feel sad or despairing so they seek out love on their own accord. When we take love into our own hand we pervert God’s perfect love and craft it into a flawed and broken creation. We must wait for God’s timing for love. “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!” Song of Solomon 4:9,10

A true love is purely captivating to us but false love will only satisfy us for a moment and leave us in want of more. God is the author of love and He has woven love into the heart of mankind. We desire love but we must be vigilant to watch what captivates our eyes and heart so that we are not led astray. Will you wait for God to provide his perfect love for you? Will you join the passionate pursuit for God? As we think of how this bride and bridegrooms love for each other we are given a view into God’s love for us. Do you pursue God in such a way as this bride sought out her bridegroom? Will you go to any length to reach God? I challenge you to love God above every other thing in your life. Will you?

This glimpse into the love expressed between the bride and bridegroom points to the wondrous love that God extends towards us. God desires for us to dwell with Him. Have you heard the voice of God tenderly calling out to you, “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away”? Any true love that is experienced on earth is only a poor imitation of the true love that is from God alone. Do you believe that God loves you? Have you seen this great love of God? You only have to look to the cross of Calvary to see the depth and breadth of God’s love for us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16  What an amazing true love express to us. Do you know this love?

The beautiful truth that fulfillment is sourced in God alone offers hope for this foolish world. When we embrace the truth that God enables our desire for wholeness we have the birth of great release and freedom. God loves us. He desires to release us from the the bondage we live in but the great mystery is that He has given us a choice to reject this gracious gift. Why do we choose to reject God’s gift of salvation? What is so alluring about the world? We must embrace the life giving salvation provided by Jesus Christ through His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. Will you give up and let the potent grace of God wash over you?

Our worth is defined by our definition of God and what He has done for us. Do you see that longing in your heart to know God in a deeply intimate way. Why do we desire God? We long for Him because He designed this longing within us. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil-this is God’s gift to man.” Ecclesiastes 3:11-13  You are beautiful. You are loved. You have hope. Will you run to this source of joy? God will be enable your beauty, your love, and your hope. Do not turn away from Him.

We must live our lives looking to God alone for our purpose and provision. “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.” Ecclesiastes 5:18-20  Every iota of our existence is surmised in the nature of God and His desire to restore mankind from the depravity of sin. We are wanting and it is only by the grace of God that we can aspire to hope. Will you trust your footsteps to the Lord God? ”For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?” Ecclesiastes 6:12  Cease trusting in your abilities and rest in the all surpassing provision of God to save. Let your hope be birthed from the truth that Jesus Christ died for you.