Isaiah 7:13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?

This whole passage, rightly famous at Christmas time as it is, is a testimony to the faithfulness of God in the face of human foolishness and weakness. God is incredibly patient, and those who serve Him need to learn from that fact. When we are tempted to lose our temper at people, we need to think of how many times we have tempted God to lose His temper! King Ahaz is a good example of those who seek to seem pious but don’t have a living relationship with God. Isaiah, on the other hand, is an example of those who place God first in every aspect of their lives, seeking to walk with Him in ever-increasing intimacy. Guess which attitude pleases God? That said, God used Ahaz’s foolishness to explicitly point to the advent of His Son, as Matthew quotes verse 14 to speak of Jesus, in Matthew 1:23. We are to seek ever-more accurate obedience to our Lord, and at the same time remember that He can use even our mistakes for good, as Paul so famously pointed out in Romans 8:28. As long as our focus is on ourselves, we will have neither wisdom nor assurance. It is when we genuinely serve Christ as Lord that we walk in His power. I have long liked the end of verse 9 here: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Sadly, the Japanese translation I use leaves out “stand” in reference to faith, just saying “If you do not believe.” To me, that leaves out an important factor in faith, which is our emotional/spiritual posture. Genuine faith doesn’t cower, it stands! I’m reminded of Martin Luther’s famous declaration when he was on religious trial: “Here I stand. I can do no other.” We too need to be so focused on Christ that we stand firm and tall, whatever is going on around us.

I wish I could say I’ve always lived this way! However, glimpses of this right attitude have come through from time to time. Over 40 years ago, when I was teaching on the high school level, a Social Studies teacher came into the faculty room one day and said, “I used you as an illustration in class today.” “Oh? How was that?” “I was telling the students about different attitudes toward religion in different countries. I said that if you point a gun at a Japanese and say ‘Change your religion,’ they’ll say, ‘To what?’ But if you do that to Garrott, he’ll spread out his hands and say, ‘Shoot.’” I was moved almost to tears of gratitude at that, because that’s precisely the attitude I want to have. I don’t want to vex my Lord, but rather delight to do His will, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the Bible, that illustrates Your faithfulness so beautifully. Help me be faithful to You in turn, that I may fulfill all of Your purposes for me, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!