July 15

Isaiah's Prophecies about Restoration and the Messiah (Continued) - Isaiah 45:14-25, 46:1-13, 47:1-15, 48:1-15

From a performance of Our Town

"Keep on, then, with your magic spells

     and with your many sorceries,

     which you have labored at since childhood.

Perhaps you will succeed,

    perhaps you will cause terror."

Isaiah 47:12

More humor.  You can almost hear God and Isaiah in mock fear, saying -- "Ooooooooohhhh, keep working at that magic thing...you might even succeed."  The reference to childhood in the passage makes the pursuit of power in magic and sorcery seem like a childish game.  Imagine someone trying to conjure up supernatural power in the shadow of the living God.  But then we've spent our lives trying to work our own "magic" so that we don't need God.  Financial security.  Life insurance.  Investments.  401(k)s  Keep piling up the cash until you feel good...perhaps you will succeed.

*  *  *

"I am God, and there is none like me."

Isaiah 46:9

The Lord is so totally unique and different than anything we can imagine.  His ways are a mystery to us.  We can't possibly grasp the purpose and plan of things that happen on this earth.  We must trust.  I think of my favorite line in Thornton Wilder's Our Town when Emily Webb, coming back from death to experience a day in her life, is in awe of the wonder of every moment and asks the Stage Manager:  "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?"  "No," responds the Stage Manager, "The saints and poets, maybe.  They do some."

We can't realize in this life our part and purpose and plan and the mind of God.  Well, maybe, the saints and poets do some.