Isaiah 29:11-14 - And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read." And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden."

If you're like me, you spend a lot of time predicting how people will react to what you say. For example, you get into a car accident, and as you're calling your family, you plan out how you're going to tell them so they don't get terribly upset. If you're making broccoli and you know your son doesn't like it, you anticipate his reaction and you plan how you're going to deal with it—for example, promising him ice cream if he eats three bites.

And so when I was reading this passage, I started anticipating God's reaction. He says, "This people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me." Uh oh, I think. That's not good. He's going to get angry. He's going to punish them.

But then I keep reading, and what do I see? "Therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder." What!? God's people are ignoring Him, and His response is to do greater things? Why? We don't deserve it. We didn't deserve all the good things He did already!

But that's God for you. He takes us faithless and disobedient people and He does wonderful things that we did not expect—miracles that even the wisest of us can't wrap our heads around. What does He do? He sends Jesus.

He sends His own Son to become a human being—born of an ordinary girl, born into a working class family in a conquered country in a dangerous time. He sends us Jesus, who is God Himself walking among us as a Man—working, serving, suffering, dying. Who could have predicted that God Himself would die for His creatures? Who could have predicted that Jesus would rise from the dead-seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses, never to die again—that He would make Himself the everlasting source of our joy and life and forgiveness?

Now that's love. That's the kind of God we have. Hallelujah and Amen.

THE PRAYER: Lord, I can't comprehend Your patience and love. Thank You. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

1. How do you react when you're disappointed in someone?

2. When you do wrong, do you worry about God's reaction?

3. How do you find hope and comfort in Jesus when you need forgiveness?

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 45-47    1 Corinthians 10:19-33

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"