Isaiah 7:1-9

¹ This happened in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against her. But he was not able to fight against her. ² When it was reported to the house of David, saying “Aram stands by Ephraim,” his heart and the heart of his people shook like the shaking of the forest trees because of wind. ³ Then Yahveh said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the channel of the upper pool on washer’s field highway. ⁴ And you must say to him, ‘Be guarded and be quiet! You must not fear, and your heart must not be weak because of these two stumps of smoldering residue, because of the fierceness of the anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Aram has plotted evil against you with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, and let us break through her for ourselves and let us install the son of Tabeel king in her midst.” ⁷ Thus says the Lord Yahveh, “The plan will not stand, and it will not happen. ⁸ Because the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and in sixty-five years from now Ephraim will be too broken apart to be a people. ⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not believe this, you will not endure to see it.”

two stumps of smoldering residue

What Ahaz and the rest of the nation of Judah saw was different than what God saw. They saw neighboring nations plotting an unstoppable attack that would destroy Judah entirely. God saw two stumps smoking, but not enflamed, because they were going out. Isaiah encouraged his king to trust in what God sees, because what God sees is what is going to happen.

It is very easy to be paralyzed by what we think is going to happen. Sometimes our fears are appropriate, but even when that is the case, we should trust that God will bring us through the worst, and not allow us to be overcome by it.

LORD, forgive us for only seeing the worst, and not choosing to trust you. Give us a vision of your reality that sees all the way to eternity. Help us to trust you during the hard times, because we can see them as temporary, you want to bring us through them, taking us into the time of permanent joy.