Today's Passage: Isaiah 19-20

In chapter 19, Isaiah is writing an oracle about the Egyptians. It is explaining their punishment for not turning to the Lord. And it's pretty dreadful: civil war, drought, famine, defeat in battles, despair all around. However, God does not leave them in that state. He actually says that the Egyptians will turn their heart toward him eventually. I love that. God does not want to punish for the sake of punishing them. However, he is also just. He cannot let their sins go without punishment, so he does what he needs to do but also plans for their repentance. The rest of what Isaiah records in that chapter is God's love toward them, even referring to Egypt as God's people.

What hope we have in the Lord! He does not want to strike you down. He earnestly desires a relationship with you. Sometimes I take that for granted and then I read a chapter like Isaiah 19 and see the effects of not following the Lord and no being in relationship with him. I am so thankful that I have a relationship with God and I want to be better at cultivating it. I think God wants that for me, as well as you. So be humbled today that God desires relationship with you, even when you mess up, even though we're not perfect.