Coffee With The Lord

I just finished reading Isaiah 50 during my time of “coffee with the Lord” this morning.  I am aware that it is a “Servant Song” and prophetically speaks of the “Divine Servant” and was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Savior… But I’ve got to tell you, I want to be the kind of person described in verse 4!  I believe it’s appropriate to “covet” that in a righteous way!  In terms of what it describes “I want to be just like Jesus!”

Here is what it says…

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary!  Morning by morning He awakens; He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.” (Isaiah 50:4 ESV)

To the best of my ability I have dedicated the first hours of each day to the Lord.  Each time I enjoy “coffee with the Lord” I want to bring a “God-awakened ear” to hear what He would say to me – to listen to His voice – to be taught His ways, His truth!  Then as He leads me and prompts me – as He gives me opportunities – I want to “sustain with a word (a word He has given me and taught me) those who are weary (those who are discouraged, challenged, or going through trials). 

Oh Lord, do this in, and through, my life!… How does the old gospel song put it…

“Out in the highways and byways of life, Many are weary and sad; Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, Making the sorrowing glad.

 Refrain:

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,

Out of my life may Jesus shine; Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray, Make me a blessing to someone today.”

-Ira Wilson, 1909

A passage in my Bible reading today addressed the following issues and the feelings that accompany them…

• Return after being banished (exile)
• Restoration after judgment
• Rejoicing after sorrow

Have you ever experienced any of those things?  Well, then this wonderful passage of Scripture is for you!  Read it as the very words of God to your situation!  Let the Lord speak its message by His Spirit to your heart.  (It was originally communicated to God’s people, Israel, as a word of encouragement to them of their restoration, after God’s discipline upon them for their sin.)

“Thus says the Lord: ‘In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you! … Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.’  

“But Zion [God’s people] said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.’  

[The Lord’s response] “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me… Then you will know that I am the Lord!  Those who wait for me shall not be put to shame! … I will contend with those who contend with you and I will save your children… Then all flesh will know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob!”  (From Isaiah 49.8-26 ESV)

I don’t know what you may be feeling or experiencing today (or why).  My advice?  Let these words from the Lord sink deep into your soul and bring hope and healing to you!

I have to admit that all too often I’m like the disciples of Jesus when it comes to spiritual things… I just don’t get it!  Jesus sometimes marveled at their inability to grasp the truth He shared because of their “hardness of heart!”

A picture comes to mind to illustrate this… PJ, one of our sons, struggled to comprehend a math concept when he was in elementary school.  His mother would work tirelessly with him, patiently going over it again and again, explaining every step of the process.  I’d watch and marvel at her patience… her skill… the different approaches she’d use to accommodate the truth to his ability and understanding.  Finally he’d exclaim, “Oh I get it now!” and he’d work his way through the problem to his (and her) delight!  On one occasion, I remember myself grinning as PJ told his mom, “I wish YOU were my teacher… then I’d get it!”

This morning’s passage in my Bible reading reminded me of the scene I’ve just described…

“As it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit! For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God…  No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.  The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned…  But we have the mind of Christ.”

So this is my prayer… “Oh Lord, help me to understand what You’re trying to teach me!”  This passage assures me He will – and the Holy Spirit will be my patient teacher until “I get it!”