Blessing Repeating?

Dodger:  Hello again.  Good to see you!  Was the week good for you?

Lilly:  I had a nice week.  My family went and bought our pumpkins for carving this year.

Dodger:  Really?  What's yours going to be?

Lilly:  I'm thinking of doing either a puppy, a landscape, or just the letter "L".

Dodger:  I see.  Well, I haven't got around to buying a pumpkin yet.  My family is going this week.  I haven't picked designs either, so we'll see what happens.

Lilly:  Did we get any mail?

Dodger:  Yep, an email.

Lilly:  Can I see it?

Dodger:  Here you are:

Dodger:  Interesting email.  I don't think I've met someone before who was tired of hearing about God's blessing.

Lilly;  Well, I suppose it does gets talked about a lot.

Dodger:  That's true.  Maybe Skep is just tired of people talking about it all the time, especially since we don't always see it in action, at least, not the way we expect to.

Lilly:  Well, it might be helpful to look at Isaiah, chapter 7.

Dodger:  Which story is that?

Lilly:  I'll pull it up.  In it Isaiah is talking to King Ahaz of Judah.  Ahaz is in trouble because two other kingdoms are conspiring against the kingdom and trying to overthrow him.  So far they haven't succeeded, but he's still nervous.  Then he receives a visit from Isaiah, a prophet.  Here's where we pick up:

 "Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.  Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— thus says the Lord God:

“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,
So that it will not be a people.
 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.”’”  (Isaiah 7:3-9 NKJV)

Dodger:  I'm not sure I understood what all of that meant.

Lilly:  That's okay.  In short, God was telling Ahaz not to worry about the two other kingdoms taking over, because God wasn't going to let it happen, and to stand in believing what God said.

Dodger:  That must have made Ahaz feel better.

Lilly:  Hm, I'm not so sure.

Dodger:  What do you mean?

Lilly:  Well, why don't you pick up from where I left off?

Dodger:  Okay.  See, now...

"Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.  Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.  For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.  The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”  (Isaiah 7:10-17 NKJV)

Wait.  That doesn't look much like God's blessing at all!

Lilly:  Ah, but you see, there is a blessing in there.  First off, God is clear that the two kingdoms will not prevail against Ahaz.  He even provides a sign, a child who will be named Immanuel.  Can you think of someone in the Bible called Immanuel?

Dodger:  Um... Oh yeah!  That's Je---sus.

Lilly:  Right.  Even though Jesus Himself wasn't actually born right after this, it was still a sign from God that talked about Him.  Now I don't know why God chose this particular promise, since it seems to take a long time after Ahaz's death to come true.  However, that's because I don't understand how God does everything, which is okay.  There's also some judgment in that verse, however.  Ahaz wasn't willing to believe God, and he did have to face some trouble for that.  He wasn't even a good king, according to other stories.  Nonetheless, you can see God's blessing in the midst of trouble in this story.

Dodger:  So, what do we learn from Ahaz?

Lilly:  I think a more specific question is "what can we avoid from Ahaz?"  Essentially, we need to remember that no matter how hard things look we cannot allow them to define our thinking.  God was handing Ahaz a sign to prove what He had said, and Ahaz wouldn't take it.  Even if he said he trusted God, he wasn't really.  He'd heard God's blessings, but didn't want to lay hold of them because all he saw was what was right in front of him.  We make that mistake too, sometimes.  We let discouragement or circumstance or soggy cereal distract us from seeing that God is always looking out for us, and blessing us.

Dodger:  So maybe instead it would be wise to live every day expecting something wonderful from God?

Lilly:  Bingo!  That's exactly what we need to do.  Thank God every day for His blessing- what He's done and what He's going to do.  He's planned things for you can't even imagine.  Don't give up on them, but live like they're on the way!  This doesn't mean it's always easy, but you never know what amazing things He's put right around the bend!

Dodger:  So, Skep, thanks for your letter.  We hope that now you see why it's actually great to talk about God's blessing all the time.  He blesses us so much that we don't even always realize it.  He's good like that.

Lilly:  Yes He is.

Dodger:  Well, we'd better get going.  Thanks for hanging out with us again!  Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!

Lilly:  Can't wait to do this again!








(The letter in question was written by the author.  Furthermore, NKJV Means New King James Version.  Thanks!)

Time Right Limelight.

Dodger:  Hi there!  Sorry we've been so long.  I can't believe how time has flown, and boy, has it been busy.  I can't believe the last time I had this much schoolwork!

Lilly:  It has been a while.  It's kept me from getting here on time, even.  I'm swamped!

Dodger:  You know, all of our busyness reminds me of something.

Lilly:  What's that?

Dodger:  Well, it's good to be industrious, but sometimes we need to take the time to slow down and take care of what's really important.

Lilly:  Like what?

Dodger:  Well, this time here, for example.  We haven't seen our friend in two weeks because we've been moving so fast and doing so much!  I don't know about you, but I think that saying we were too busy might be kind of weak, at least sometimes.  It can be true sometimes, for sure, but I wouldn't want to use that excuse all the time, and lately I think I have been.

Lilly:  That's true.  We kind of already used it tonight.  I'm actually a little embarrassed now.

Dodger:  Oh no.  That's not why I brought it up.  I mentioned it because so often we let the hectic pace of our lives keep us from engaging in relationships with those we love.

Lilly:  You mean homework ruins friendships?

Dodger:  No, not at all.  What I mean is that sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we "need" to do that we forget to take time to be with family, friends, and especially with God.  Have you ever heard someone tell you they didn't have time to pray or read their Bible?  Or have you ever been rushing to an event or something and had no real time to be with your family?

Lilly:  I think I've said and done both.

Dodger:  Me too.  The truth though is that the first one is silly and the second needs to be done in moderation.  You see, just because we have things to do doesn't mean we can't spend five minutes talking to God or reading something in His Word.  God doesn't require long speeches; He just wants to be with us and have us involve Him in our lives everyday.  Besides, we have more time than we think.  I don't bring this up to create a sense of guilt, though.  God and our families aren't just all angry because we may forget to do these things, and not doing them doesn't make us horrible people, but at the same time it's kind of hypocritical, for example, to say I don't have any time to read my Bible or hang out here, and then go spend the spare half-hour I do have on Pinterest or something.

Lilly:  I see what you mean.

Dodger:  It's true.  I think it would be wise for us to slow down once in a while and spend time with family, friends, and God.  That way we learn how to grow closer and even help each other in our busyness!

Lilly:  There's actually a pretty good story about how busyness can keep us from remembering what's most important.  Jesus was visiting a house and teaching.  One sister who lived there named Mary listened to Jesus while the other sister Martha was trying to get things ready.  I'll read you the story:

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 NKJV)
Dodger:  Often it's best to slow down, relax, and just listen to God.  Other times it's good to just slow down and be with family.  God always has time for us, so let's try to give our time to Him, and to those we love.  Let's not let all the things that need to be done keep us from living in closeness with others and God.

Lilly:  I agree.  Well, I think I'd better go.  My mom said she was trying a new Bible study book tonight, and I'd like to join her in it!

Dodger:  That sounds like a good plan.  I think I'll go talk to God for a while about how things have been.  Thank you for coming and hanging out with us today!  Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!

Lilly:  Take it easy!







(NKJV Means New King James Version)