"HE SHALL PERFORM HIS PURPOSE!"

Isaiah 48:10-15                     (ESV)
"10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For MY own sake, for MY own sake, I do it, for how should MY NAME BE PROFANED? MY GLORY I WILL NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER.
12 "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am HE; I am the first, and I am the last.
13 MY hand laid the foundation of the earth, and MY right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.
14 "Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; "HE SHALL PERFORM HIS PURPOSE" on Babylon, and HIS arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way."



While recently writing about Exodus 14 it occurred to me that King Pharaoh probably didn't want to die at the bottom of the Red Sea!  He actually THOUGHT he was going to recapture the Israelites the carry them back into slavery.  The New American Standard Bible records in Hebrews 10:31 "It is a TERRIFYING thing to fall into the hands of the living GOD".  We aren't just talking about some earthly ruler!  We are referring to the same GOD who "SPOKE" the universes into existence!  There are those who have educated themselves to where THEY DO NOT BELIEVE that "this world" was Created, but that debate is for a different study.

Just as Pharaoh of Exodus THOUGHT he would recapture the Israelites and carry them back into captivity, we sometimes have the impression that GOD will perform whatever our hearts desire to make our lives easier, or more comfortable!  GOD is not some "cosmic bellhop" at our "beck and call" to serve our selfish desires.  GOD didn't Create the heavens and earth so we humans could live in comfort and luxury!  To actually THINK that we are in control of ANYTHING is a misconception that one has to have been where I have been to fully grasp.  Humans cannot even control our breathing without divine intervention!  Only GOD gives life, and without HIM there is NO LIFE (1 Samuel 2; John 6:61-64)!

We tend to live as though we are deserving of GOD's favor, to actually THINK we are more than we are!  GOD doesn't need us to glorify HIMSELF.  JESUS says the rocks can do that (Luke 19:40)!  The main thing we need to understand is that "HE SHALL PERFORM HIS PURPOSE"!  We are blessed just to be part of HIS Plan.  We shouldn't expect great wealth, comfort, nor accolades, we are just here to glorify HIS NAME and be used to make JESUS famous!

While it is true that others will try to draw glory to themselves or THEIR ministries, they are only serving to prove the Word of GOD true!  Paul wrote to Timothy that "In the last days" men would become selfish, lovers of money and fame, and among other things, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of GOD, in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.  Pharaoh didn't see his impending fate, even though GOD said in Exodus 14:4 "I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts"!  GOD will not share HIS glory with another! "HE SHALL PERFORM HIS PURPOSE", and I desire to NOT be against HIS Plan!