September 18 - God Knows What He’s Doing
Isaiah was prophesying against the rulers of Jerusalem, they were scoffers who did not believe in the Lord but had made covenant with death and agreement with Sheol. They took refuge in lies and shelter in falsehood. So the Lord declared a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone and a precious cornerstone. Those who believed would not be in haste. Justice and righteousness would sweep away lies and falsehood. Their covenant with death and Sheol would be annulled. The scoffers would not scoff any more due to their ignorance of how God worked.
A wisdom poem is inserted in the prophecy. It is an agricultural imagery, explaining the way the Lord works. God as the farmer in the poem knows what He is doing. First of all, He knows when to plow and when to sow the seeds. He will not plow continually, when the ground is ready, He will begin to sow. He does things in stages according to the need, never more, never less. We have to trust in His timing of things and not judge it from our human perspective.
Even in His sowing, He puts things in order, scattering dill, sowing cumin and putting in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place. Finally, He puts emmer as the border around other plants. The farmer does that because he is rightly instructed to do so by God. God is the Farmer who not only know when and where to put things in order for them to grow and mature. Even in harvesting, He uses the right equipment and tool. He beats the dill with a stick and cumin with a rod. He drives the cartwheel over wheat, not to crush it but to thresh it. This also comes from the Lord of hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.
Our lives are like fields on which God works. In the process of preparing us and maturing us, we may not understand His actions. When He is plowing up our lives, we think the plowing is forever and will not end. When He sows different seeds into our field, we do not understand what His plan is and doubts may arise about what He is doing. Even as He prepares us for feeding others, we do not understand the teaching and equipping process. Our minds are constantly filled with question marks and honest doubts.
What this poem is telling us is that God knows what He is doing. His wisdom is excellent and His counsel is wonderful. We may not understand at the time but He always comes through for us. The end result is our fruitful lives, ready to serve God and benefit others. Never doubt what the Lord is doing from our own limited wisdom, just trust in the Lord to do the right things to us. Are you in a time of doubt, not knowing what the Lord is doing? Are you in disagreement with what the Lord is doing right now? Submit to His wisdom now and let His plan be done.
Ps 105:8-15 Isa 28:14-30:11 Gal 3:23-4:31 Prov 23:19-21