I re-downloaded facebook just to share this, i felt convicted to share what helped me tonight.
Want a not so brain break, brain break? From the heavy week? This will only count as that for a small group, and if you make it all the way through, you are my people...let's be friends if we aren't already... anyways...welcome to Bailey's neuro (spicy?) Bible study? I guess? 😂 So, I'm realizing I need to stop fearing sharing what's going on inside my head. I fear nobody can follow, it'll freak people out how my brain works, and that my overall thought process is overwhelming ~ but I will be courageous and just start sharing it. Sometimes maybe I'll talk & make videos, but I suck at finding a stopping point. I don't consider myself particularly articulate, and the short version really doesn't exist in my busy brain. -- yes, I'm self conscious, yes I struggle with anxiety....okay? That's for another day......So........anyways...Alright, it's 1:30am... I can't sleep. I'm reading Isaiah... I'm in Chapter 40. Okay? Headline of that section....."Comfort my People." Hmmmm.... *tries not to cry for the 40th time today...*I am going to put the first chunk right here for you to read...but the whole dang chapter.. go read it. Verses 1 through lets just do like verse 11, for now.. it reads, "Comfort, comfort my people,� says your God.
2
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,� and proclaim to her�that her hard service has been completed,� that her sin has been paid for,�that she has received from the Lord’s hand� double for all her sins.
3
A voice of one calling:�“In the wilderness prepare� the way for the Lord[a];�make straight in the desert� a highway for our God.[b]
4
Every valley shall be raised up,� every mountain and hill made low;�the rough ground shall become level,� the rugged places a plain.
5
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,� and all people will see it together.�For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6
A voice says, “Cry out.”� And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,� and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7
The grass withers and the flowers fall,� because the breath of the Lord blows on them.� Surely the people are grass.
8
The grass withers and the flowers fall,� but the word of our God endures forever.”
9
You who bring good news to Zion,� go up on a high mountain.�You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]� lift up your voice with a shout,�lift it up, do not be afraid;� say to the towns of Judah,� “Here is your God!”
10
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,� and he rules with a mighty arm.�See, his reward is with him,� and his recompense accompanies him.
11
He tends his flock like a shepherd:� He gathers the lambs in his arms�and carries them close to his heart;� he gently leads those that have young.
........what did that make you think of in light of what's gone on in the last few days? Did it send your mind to the same spot mine went? I bet it did.
So, then I read the rest of the chapter... and I'm rusty on the book of Isaiah - so I go find context & commentary.... and all I found was more parallels. Now, if you don't go hunting for context and commentary to help understand what's being said here, you could totally get confused & that's fair. I went to The Bible Project for starters....here's a link to what I read: What Does Isaiah 40:31 (Wings Like Eagles Verse) Mean? And this starts more specific to verse 31, but the context for the chapter is there...but if you scroll down, you'll find this.. <quoting from Bibleproject.com>
"The Context of Isaiah’s Words
The words in Isaiah 40 are aimed at the Israelites during the Babylonian exile. They’ve suffered for decades under brutal oppression and are now wondering if God has forgotten them.
Is God failing to enact justice? Or is he simply refusing to act because he no longer cares? Israel declares, “Hidden is my way from Yahweh, and my justice bypasses my God” (Isa. 40:27, BPT).
After seeing Jerusalem invaded and the temple of Yahweh destroyed, and after the disorienting experience of captivity, Israel feels helpless and rejected. They interpret their experience to mean that either God no longer cares or he is (a lot) less powerful than the Babylonians and their gods.
Suffering shapes their perception, and now they can see the world only through the narrow lens of their present reality. God’s eternal covenantal love (Jer. 31:3) and his place in the world as the unrivaled, all-powerful creator is forgotten. He now seems distant and unresponsive toward them, and their hope is waning—if not gone.
Israel’s view of God profoundly impacts how they see themselves as well. Their identity is inseparably bound to Yahweh's identity and to his actions in history. They see themselves as a people chosen by the creator of the cosmos, who demonstrated his superiority over empires and their deities by rescuing Israel from what seemed like inescapable Egyptian slavery (Exod. 20:1-2).
By describing God as uncaring or powerless, the people of Israel demonstrate forgetfulness for who God is and, therefore, who they are. It’s no wonder, then, that they feel hopeless and abandoned.
This pattern of forgetfulness, loss of identity, and subsequent despair is not unique to Israel. It describes a universal human tendency, especially during times of exhaustion. In the midst of suffering, the world seems to constrict to that moment; our perception decreases until we can see nothing but our tragic circumstances.
Because this is a natural human reaction, leading us to forget God’s actions in the past, it’s important to recognize that pain and weariness work to silence our hope for the future.
That’s why the antidote to this exhausted condition—waiting on the Lord—is all about memory."
Do you, again, follow where my brain went?
This passage put my heart at peace after I've been doing nothing but sobbing the last couple of days.
Want more? Yeah, I did too.... here's another link... Enduring Word Bible Commentary Isaiah Chapter 40: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/isaiah-40/ of a good commentary on this chapter. After you read that - come back.
Who has been speaking to the barren places? I saw another pastor share that he spoke at a TPUSA Faith event, I think, and his message was about the enemy using the tactic to strike the shepherd so the sheep scatter.... well, one dang good shepherd got struck this week - and I refuse to scatter. Do you?
Side note, why do people speak of sheep with such negativity now days? Ranchers, farmers, cattlemen... I'm looking at you? Making a sheep farmer joke? Stop it. Looking down on other ranchers because they raise sheep & not cattle? Stop it. Cattle and sheep are both used in the Bible, and great men in the Bible ~ shepherds. Jesus compared Himself to both being the great shepherd and the sacrificial lamb... so anyways... back on topic and be kind to sheep & sheep ranchers/farmers/shepherds....you get the idea.. ANYWAYS...
What I'm getting at here is that the world is cold, evil, and dark. A powerhouse of a servant, husband, father, leader, God fearing, truth speaking guy... stripped from the earth in an instant. Brutally. It HURT. The pain I feel for Charlie's wife, his children, his family, his community, and mourn him as a brother in Christ, a massive part of the church body............. this passage. Isaiah 40.... mirrored the situation well. God's word endures, it never dies, and it always applies. IT IS LIVING.
How many feel as if we are in some sort of exile? I've had some ask me if God is just not listening.... as does this passage reflect. When we start to stay in the pitty parties and get down in the dumps because it's one nasty evil after another - we need to look up. God is not done. He's not avoiding serving justice. It's all in HIS time, and we need to wait. From the Bible Project, "Because this is a natural human reaction, leading us to forget God’s actions in the past, it’s important to recognize that pain and weariness work to silence our hope for the future." We get sorrowful tunnel vision. Guilty. As. Charged.
This doesn't just apply to Charlie, this applies to the state we are in right now. Is America going to get a taste of the persecution that has been happening all over the world? Times are only going to get tougher..... but will WE get tougher? Are you ready? I'm trying to get ready.
I want to be a kingdom warrior. I want to raise kingdoms warriors, and I don't use that term lightly. Am I, as a wife, willing to watch my husband be killed for his faith? Am I willing to be bold and die for MY faith? ARE YOU?
Heavy questions. Heavy times. Lots of emotions... lots of thoughts... but I realize now that if I just keep all my thoughts in my head, I might be shorting the work God is trying to do through me. My fear of people making comments about me staying on track, talking too much, scatter brain, too busy, slow down, doing too much, not being able to follow my brain waves...... I have chosen SILENCE because of FEAR.... and I won't anymore. I can't, I shouldn't, and I'm ashamed that I have. Who freaking cares if my brain doesn't suit everybody. If one thing in my blurb can serve God, or if my messy dialog is the same as another person, and we can all scatterbrain our way to Jesus... GOOD.
THIS IS AMERICA. I have the freedom of speech and I better be freaking using it. Come what may, God is sovereign. God is good. And I KNOW who wins, and I know where I'm going.
MAKE. HEAVEN. CROWDED.
BE COURAGEOUS.
BE BOLD.
Okay - my eyes are actually heavy now and I feel as though I might be able to sleep now that I've word vomtied on my phone and scribbled notes in my son's markers in my Bible all over Isaiah 40.
If you made it to the end of this, you're amazing. Love you lots... and you deserve a cup of coffee.
Good thing facebook doesn't have a character count max.....blog post? And no - i did not check this for typos.. it's 2:27am now, okay?😂 leave me alone.
Alright. Night (or morning) y'all ❤️❤️
~ Bailey Shiney