Isaiah 50: Bring it On!

Transcript

Resilience Through Adversity

Speaker 1 0:00

Well , everybody , welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host , pastor Brandon , today . Isaiah , chapter 50 , and today's title is Bring it On , bring it On . And this chapter reminds me of a guy one time I was talking to and he was training for a fight . And as he was training for this fight , he was having to work out and he was running and he was sparring with different ones and all this stuff . And what I was doing was I was talking to him one day and his trainer comes up to him and he says , all right , coming up this next week , we're going to make it even harder because we're getting close to the fight . So we really have to ramp it up . And as I was hearing all the different things that he was going to have to do , in my mind I was thinking , man , it's time to tap out . That seems impossible . But the worse it sounded , my friend started to smile and he had this kind of glint in his eye and he was like all right , bring it on , bring it on . And I knew his kind of .

Speaker 1 1:00

His motto in life was that the harder it gets , the more I learn what I can handle . The harder it gets , the more I can learn what I can handle , and I think about that when I think about this verse or this chapter , where God's word is teaching us that , yes , difficult times come , but those difficult times create resilience in us , because sometimes we don't realize how strong we are until we go through something hard , and it's then we realize where our strength truly comes from , and it's from the Lord . We're going to get all that in just a moment . But if you like what we're doing here , make sure you like , share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast . Make sure you're leaving us a five-star review on the podcast . It really does help and I've been seeing some of you who've been leaving those reviews for us , at least the five-star review on Spotify , and you are telling me that you're leaving the five stars but you can't really leave comments . Well , if you go to the Apple podcast app , you can leave comments there and it really does help us . Not only is it encouraging to our team , but it's also encouraging for others who are looking in and seeing if this is something that they can benefit from . Also , make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook , because the more we dig , the more we find , and they're leaving these wonderful devotions every single day .

Speaker 1 2:12

Well , if you have your Bible and want to open up with me to Isaiah , chapter 50 , once again remember that the overall focus , the theme of Isaiah , is God is our salvation . And once we realize that God is our salvation , that foundation helps us walk into any environment . It reminds me of the book of Ephesians . Paul is talking about what it is to live with God as our focus and as our goal , and he likens it to having spiritual armor on and he talks about how our feet he said our feet are our clothes . It's like putting on shoes of the gospel of peace . And what that means is , everywhere we walk , we're able to be at peace because we have peace with God . And that peace with God gives us peace with others , so that whenever we're facing any kind of difficulty , we can say , like my friend said , and that is , bring it on . Bring it on Because every hard thing just teaches me how to be strong myself . And I feel like that's what we're reading . We're reading Isaiah 50 . So we're going to jump into this , we're going to see what God's word has to say to us today . You ready ?

Speaker 1 3:15

Isaiah , chapter 50 , verse one , says this . This is what the Lord says . Was your mother sent away because I divorced her ? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors ? No , you were sold because of your sins . In other words , you got into difficulty because of your sins , and your mother , too , was taken because of your sins .

Speaker 1 3:37

Why was no one there when I came ? Why didn't anyone answer when I called ? Is it because I have no power to rescue ? No , didn't anyone answer when I called . Is it because I have no power to rescue ? No , that is not the reason , for I can speak to the sea and make it dry up . I can turn rivers into deserts covered by dying fish . I dress the skies in darkness , covering them with clothes of mourning .

Speaker 1 3:58

The sovereign Lord has given me this word of wisdom so that I know how to comfort the weary . Morning by morning , he awakens me and he opens my understanding to his will . The sovereign Lord has spoken to me and I have listened . I have not rebelled or turned away . I offer my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard . I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting , because the sovereign Lord helps me .

Speaker 1 4:28

I will not be disgraced . Therefore , I have set my face like a stone , determined to do his will , and I know that I will not be put to shame . He who gives me justice is near . Who will dare to bring charges against me ? Now ? Where are my accusers ? Let them appear . See , the sovereign Lord is on my side . Who will declare me guilty ? All of my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that have been eaten by moss . Who , among you , fears the Lord ? He obeys and obeys his servant . If you are walking in darkness without a ray of light , trust in the Lord and rely on your God , but watch out . You who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires , this is the reward you will receive from me . You will soon fall down in great torment .

Speaker 1 5:24

So what is God's word saying here ? He is saying that when you are struggling , make sure you're struggling for the right reasons and remember that God will be with you . We see this in 1 and 2 Peter . Remember that God will be with you . We see this in 1 and 2 Peter , when Peter is talking about how , during that time , they were starting to experience persecution . And he said now listen , we all receive certain types of persecution , but make sure you're receiving persecution for the right reason , because if you are being criticized for something other than God , well then you're just being criticized . But if you're being criticized because you're following the Lord , then you're just being criticized . But if you're being criticized because you're following the Lord , then you know that the Lord is with you and , just like my friend from the very beginning , when you see hard times but you see that it's hard because you're serving God , because there's a good plan in place it increases your resilience . Let me give you an example .

Speaker 1 6:12

I knew a guy one time who who he worked at a place to where , after working there for a little while , he claims and I don't you know , I'm not going to say his name , but even then , just in case , he claims that he knew that some of his coworkers were kind of skimming off the top of the financials of where he worked and apparently it was very normal . They were saying , hey , everybody does this . This is just part of it . It might as well be written into our contracts . It's all a way for us to make some extra money . And it was such a common thing that he thought very seriously about doing it himself , because he was saying like this is something that everybody says that they do , and even the boss is saying that he does it . It's just an open secret . He's like but you know , I can't do that because I wasn't hired to do that . I was hired for this contract , for this amount of money , and it's not written in my contract that this is an incentive , so I can't do it .

Speaker 1 7:12

Well , after about a year and this whole time during this year , he's doing okay financially , but he's not doing as okay as everybody else . And it would have been so easy for him to have just started skimming off the top like everybody else , because that's what everybody was doing . But he stuck to his integrity because he felt like that it would be stealing and he knew that God wouldn't smile on it . And even though that would happen , he just it continued to actually build him up because he felt like he was quote unquote suffering because he was doing the right thing . Well , about a year into it , the home office came down and did an audit and in that audit they discovered that most people were skimming off the top and they all got fired . Some of them had legal action taken against them . One of the few people that didn't have any of that happen was my friend who had been honest and been sincere , and so what looked like someone who is getting behind because of their integrity and saying that's ridiculous man , you need to be doing everybody else . In the end , not only did it steal him to say I'm going to do what's right , but in the end , not only did he not lose his job , but , because it wasn't hardly anybody left , he got promoted because , also , he'd proven himself to be trustworthy .

Speaker 1 8:19

And I want to ask you this question Are you trusting God to take care of you , even when everyone else around you seems to be trusting in other things ? Are you trusting in God that , when you are facing a difficult season , you're trusting God to take care of you instead of taking shortcuts in your life ? I don't know what that may look like for you . That may look like what I was talking about with my friend about not skimming off the top in a job situation , about not giving in to cheap relationships because you're lonely , but instead trusting God that at the right time , he's going to send the right person in your life . Maybe it has to do with something else , I don't know what it is , but are you trusting God to take care of you , even when everybody else is going another direction . It can be so hard to do , but I want to promise you that God loves you more than you can imagine , and God will take care of you . And so , if you're doing the right thing for the right reason , god will always point you in the right direction .

Endurance and Faithfulness in Adversity

Speaker 1 9:20

But I also want to warn you . It may look like for a season that everybody else is getting ahead instead of you . You may find yourself yourself saying god , this isn't fair . I'm honoring you and I'm obeying you and I'm struggling because of it . Can I tell you , in the end it always pays off that you will see down the road , those who took the quick road , those who took the easy way , those who didn't honor god it always catches up with them , whereas when you honor God , it just gets better and better and better .

Speaker 1 9:50

Let's pray together right now , god . Thank you so much for today . Thank you that you are worthy and that you are faithful and that , lord , you never send us on any journey without also equipping us for the road . I pray , lord , that you open our eyes to see how you are moving and give us the endurance to stand strong In Jesus' name . We pray Amen . Say this with me . Isaiah 12 , verse 2 says God has come to save me . I will trust in him and not be afraid the Lord . God is my strength and my song , and he has given me victory . I love you . I'll see you tomorrow . For Isaiah , chapter 51 .