Isaiah 4:2 In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.

I would imagine Isaiah’s hearers got rather confused sometimes, because his prophecies seem to mix disaster with blessing. Part of that is because blessings, and for that matter, disasters, are generally conditional – if this, then that. God’s love is unconditional, but how we experience that varies greatly by how we receive and respond to it. The thing is, our understanding is so limited that sometimes what we see as a disaster is actually a blessing, and even vice versa. America’s current luxury has led to spiritual apathy and deviancy, and such things as the recent hurricanes have led to outpourings of love and faith. That’s why Paul admonished us, “Rejoice aways, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) When we make our love for God conditional, we get way off the mark. We tend to feel, even if we don’t articulate it in so many words, “If God’s nice to me, then I’ll follow Him.” We don’t stop to think that our actions don’t deserve His being nice to us! God has already demonstrated His love for us in a way that couldn’t possibly be topped, by sending His Son to take the penalty for our sins and die for us. (John 3:16, Romans 5:6) It is when we believe that, and respond in repentance and commitment, that we are saved. We will have all sorts of junk in our lives, as Jesus famously warned us, (John 16:33) but that doesn’t change anything about God’s love for us, and the eternal salvation that is available to us by faith in Christ. Whatever is going on around us, we need to remember that “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

This is a very timely reminder, because Cathy and I aren’t yet out from under the flu, or whatever this bug is. Last night was hardly restful, with congestion and coughing and the like. However, we know that by next week we will hardly remember what we’re going through now, and God’s love is constant. Today being a 4^th Sunday, we will be celebrating Communion, and that is something to make us rejoice! Today is also a national Diet election here in Japan, so we won’t be pestered by the sound trucks of the politicians, as we have been for the past couple of weeks. We do need to cover this election in prayer, just as we need to do for the US election on 11/5, because who is in leadership does make a difference. Unusually, the new Prime Minister is a Christian, so we need to be lifting him up particularly, to be able to hear God’s guidance and follow it, and be protected from all sorts of attacks in the process. Thinking about that, the remnants of the flu seem rather insignificant! We need to remember that God is still God, and pray the Lord’s Prayer with intent, faith, and passion, for God’s rule and reign to be manifested throughout the earth, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me stay focused on my Lord throughout today, whatever is going on, so that I may be fully available to You for however You want to use me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!