Isaiah 4

There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. Isaiah 4:6

My wife and kids came back from the library recently, only to discover online that there were still books that we had not brought back. Nikki asked our 7-year-old son, Tyler, if he had checked his room for these books, which he said he had before they left. He looked again and came back within a minute with the missing books. Nikki said there was a late fee of a $1.50 and Tyler had recently been given a dollar by a woman in our church, so I told him to bring me his dollar to help pay for it. This made him pretty sad because he had plans for that dollar. Nikki told him that he would have an opportunity to earn it back, which I initially didn't like. But then I realized, there's nothing wrong with giving him hope in the midst of discipline. And that night in his prayer time, he even asked God to help him not be upset about losing his dollar.

Just like Tyler and I, God gave Israel hope in the midst of discipline. God has been laying out, through Isaiah, what's going to happen. Babylon will come and defeat them and carry many of them off. That's why verse one talks about having one woman to seven men. Babylon defeats Israel because God's people have turned themselves into a pagan nation. As a result, God wants Israel to have a fresh start and He chooses Babylon to give it. But even as disappointed as God is in His people, God gives hope for renewal. He promises to lead Israel just as He did out of Egypt with the cloud by day and fire by night, allowing them to constantly see His presence. He promises to be a shelter and a refuge. Have you recently been under the discipline of God? I know that in times that I am paying the price for my sin, I am ashamed to be near Him. But if I come to Him in humility over my sin, it doesn't always mean the consequences won't come, but God shows us that He will not abandon the humble. He'll leave the proud, unrepentant Christian out to dry for a while if needed, but humility brings God close. The greatness of God is shown in so many ways, but the way He loves us even when He's disciplining us has to be one of the most comforting characteristics of God. He truly loves us in spite of who we are.