The Creators Hiddenness

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Wisdom and Discernment

Isaiah 45:9-17

The Message (MSG)

 ^8-10"Open up, heavens, and rain.
   Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
   sprout right living.
   I, God, generate all this.
But doom to you who fight your Maker—
   you're a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
   'What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!'
Would a sperm say to a father,
   'Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?'
Or a fetus to a mother,
   'Why have you cooped me up in this belly?'"
 ^11-13Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel's Maker, says:
   "Do you question who or what I'm making?
   Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth,
   and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies
   and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I've got Cyrus on the move.
   I've rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
   He will bring home my exiles.
I didn't hire him to do this. I told him.
   I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies."
 ¹⁴God says:
   "The workers of Egypt, the merchants of Ethiopia,
   and those statuesque Sabeans
Will all come over to you—all yours.
   Docile in chains, they'll follow you,
Hands folded in reverence, praying before you:
   'Amazing! God is with you!
   There is no other God—none.'"

Look at the Evidence

 ^15-17Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes,
   God of Israel, Savior God.
Humiliated, all those others
   will be ashamed to show their faces in public.
Out of work and at loose ends, the makers of no-god idols
   won't know what to do with themselves.
The people of Israel, though, are saved by you, God,
   saved with an eternal salvation.
They won't be ashamed,
   they won't be at loose ends, ever.

For Reflection
Our unseen god has never really been unseen!  Look deeply into the eyes of the righteous; you will find God.  Look into the eyes of the suffering, you will find God.  Look into the mirrored image of you eyes; you will see God.  We are made in God's image.  The Spirit of God resides within us. Listen closely.  Study the scriptures.  Pray deeply and often.  Look for God in our eyes.

Pray
that we will recognize the Holy Spirit that resides within us.  Pray that we will accept the Spirit and allow God to work miracles within us.  Pray that others will see God in our eyes.