Set Apart

Reading Isaiah is unsettling. So much of the attitudes and chaos of Isaiah’s world are reflected in our own today. Thanks to passage after passage of interaction between God and Isaiah, we know how God feels about many things that are reflected in today’s society. And we know that judgment will not be withheld forever.

But I love Isaiah 8:9-22. It pulls me in. It calls to my heart. It gives me a hunger to be set apart. In these verses, God tells Isaiah how to handle the chaos of his society. How to handle the fact that everything is falling apart. He tells Isaiah to be different. To fear God, not circumstances. To wait for the Lord, even when He and His hand are not visible. To teach his children and lead his entire household to be set apart. To trust the Word of God above all else.

To be set apart.

So often I get caught up in the fear of what is going on in this day. I struggle with wanting everything to be right and good. But thanks to sin, it isn’t. So, how do I walk through this life without being paralyzed by fear? I do so by not allowing myself to be caught up in the world’s responses, but by instead living according to the truth of God’s Word.

I am challenged to be set apart.

I am challenged to fear God, not circumstances. To wait for the Lord, even when I cannot see Him or the work of His hand. To be different along with my entire household. And to trust God’s Word above all else. Armed with this attitude, I can joyfully walk through the most heartbreaking of circumstances, knowing that my God is in control in perfection and holiness, and His will will be accomplished.