Depending on the One Who Planned It [Isaiah 22]

    ⁹And you saw that the breaches
         In the wall of the city of David were many;
         And you collected the waters of the lower pool.
    ¹⁰Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
         And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
    ¹¹And you made a reservoir between the two walls
         For the waters of the old pool.
         But you did not depend on Him who made it,
         Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.
    ¹²Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing,
         To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
    ¹³Instead, there is gaiety and gladness,
         Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
         Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
         "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die."
    ¹⁴But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me,
         "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you
         Until you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts.

This message was to God's people in Jerusalem, God's dear people.  Do you sense the sadness that God had as He warned them again that He was going to carry out His plan?  The Lord GOD of hosts called them  "to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth."  But instead of repenting, they said,  "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die."  Self-sufficiency and self-protection leads to forgetting God.  Do I even consider what God planned long ago?

This morning I have been pondering how I, too, go through many motions to protect myself.  I take the things that God created and look to those things to meet my needs instead of depending on God who created them. 

I also look for a thousand ways to keep from looking at what God is showing me that could cause me to weep.  Resigning, saying "Oh well, this is the way it is going to be, so I may as well just go on with life," is one of those thousand ways.  It is my version of imitation godly behavior, which I think calls Christians to put on a happy face even when tragic things are happening around them.  This also causes me to forget God and depend on myself.  But the truth is, God may be calling me today to weep and repent about the ways I have forgotten Him.  He is always drawing me to look to Him, to depend on Him.  Sometimes He cuts off the things I am depending on and when He does it is a call to repentance (a change of mind that brings us in agreement with God).  I don't want to miss that call by reverting to my way to "gaiety and gladness."  I want to be willing to weep.     

We praise You, Lord God of Hosts for calling us to repentance.  Thank You for the reminder that You alone are the source of our strength and protection.  We praise You for planning things long ago.