The Judgement and Mercy of Calamity

Isaiah 45:5-7 reads:

I am the LORD, and there is no other,  

Besides me there is no God;  

I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know,  

from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none besides me; 

I am the LORD, and there is no other. 

I form the light and create darkness;  

I make well-being and create calamity; 

I am the LORD who does all these things.

As an individual, family, community, nation, world -- how have we turned from God? How have we twisted and defiled God’s creation, nature order, His law and mandates? How have we replaced him with lesser gods--money, security, activity, academics, sports, entertainment, indulgence, busyness...even ministry? What good things have we made best?  

The current Shelter-in-Place might shed some light on what we have replaced God with on the throne of our hearts. Anything other than God is an empty idol that can’t save us. As Isaiah 45: 5-7 says, “I am the LORD, and there is NO other.”

The part that says “I make well-being and create calamity” hit me hard. Calamity certainly seems to describe the virus that has stricken the world. Sobering thought. However, it seems that calamity contains both God’s Judgement and His Mercy. 

How can this current calamity turn our wayward, prone to idolatry-prone hearts back to God? Will this be an impetus to return to the narrow path that leads to everlasting, eternal life with the God who created us? Will we return to the loving protection of the one true God? 

God’s ultimate protection is Salvation--exchanging eternal separation from Our Creator [death] for eternal life with God who created us to be in an intimate, life-giving relationship with Him forever. This Salvation is available to us through Jesus--the bridge between us and God. Jesus who looked death in the face and conquered it thus making a way for us to cross from death to life...from eternal darkness to eternal light. 

May this current calamity shed light on our wayward and idolatrous hearts--may it cause us to turn back to our Creator. As it goes on to say in Isaiah 45:

"Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it."