learn to live

Monday October 17^th, Isaiah 45:  1-7 God's Message to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand To give the task of taming the nations, of terrifying their kings— He gave him free rein, no restrictions: "I'll go ahead of you, clearing and paving the road. I'll break down bronze city gates, smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances. I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables— Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. Cyrus was not a man of God, Cyrus was an opportunists.  God however used Cyrus and led him to bring freedom to the Israelites held in captivity in Babylon.  Whether you believe in God or not, God is in charge, even of you.  God’s plan will prevail in the world and in your life, end of story.  There are failings and wonderings in our lives for sure, but ultimately God is in charge and even the nastiest dirtiest rotten thing that can happen is not beyond God working with you to turn to the good.  Many of the psalms and praises about a coming savior in the Old Testament are not about Jesus, they are about Cyrus and were later reinterpreted to be about Jesus.  So if God can use Cyrus, and if so much of the Old Testament praise is heaped on Cyrus, why do we have such trouble honoring those who, by our standards are outside our understanding of the faith, for their faith?  Perhaps it is because in the back of our minds, we might just think we are still in charge.  Ha!! Fat chance!!!  God is in charge!  Our job is to learn to live with that and celebrate it.  When we do, we get a glimpse of Heaven.