Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
For A Purpose
It is easy to wonder about the goodness and power of God when we look at the world around us. We see all the evil, injustice, and heartache, and we wonder how a loving and powerful God could have created such a world. The answer is very simply that events that seem to diminish God’s goodness and power demonstrate both in the grand scheme and in the long haul.
In Isaiah 45, God makes predictions about a king, Cyrus, who had not yet been born, who would conquer the known world, and who would be the means by which God would deliver His people. Through Isaiah, God prophesied of Cyrus saying, “I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.” God says, “Cyrus, I am the One Who made you and named you even though you don’t know or acknowledge me. You are a king, but I am the sovereign.”
There are two things that God speaks of that demonstrate both His power and His goodness in the long haul and in the grand scheme. One is the universe itself. In verse 18, God says, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” We find over and again God saying that there is no other God beside Him. This speaks to the exclusivity of God.
God said, “I made the earth, and I made it for a reason. I made the earth to be inhabited.” What a difference from this idea that we are just a cosmic accident and that the earth is our mother. The earth is a stewardship given to us by God. That does not mean we can do anything we want to with this globe. No, we are obligated to do right by the world that God created for us to inhabit. We are stewards of a God Who made the world for a purpose.
Not only that, but God created you with a purpose. Verse 19 says, “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain.” God made Israel for a purpose, and He told Israel to seek Him for a purpose. Many people have no purpose in life because they feel like there is no purpose in life. Why would they sense a purpose for life when they have been taught that they have evolved from a cosmic accident?
Sometimes events seem chaotic, but there is a God Who made this earth for a reason, made you for a reason, and Who is not subject to time, space, or the small perspective that limits you and me. Israel could look ahead for generations and see nothing but captivity. But those events that seemed to diminish God’s goodness and power actually demonstrated both in the grand scheme and in the long haul.
That is true for you today. God made this world for a purpose, and He made you for a purpose. There is a peace that comes from being in submission to that God.