My Thoughts on Isaiah 31:1

Isaiah 31:1 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord.”

I am reading through Isaiah right now and I honestly haven’t felt like I have been getting a lot out of it- which is most likely my own fault, but I came across this verse today in Isaiah 31 and it hit me hard. Something I struggle with is placing my trust in the wrong things or people. I know in my head that my trust needs to only be in God, but it is easy to “play it safe” and make sure I go to Egypt to get help. I line up the horses and chariots and gather horsemen so that way if God falls through I will be safe. This passage goes on to describe what happens when the Lord stretches out His hand. Basically, no matter how prepared you are if your plan isn’t God’s plan it will fail and vice versa. If it IS indeed God’s plan there is nothing that can stop the hand of the Lord. There are things in my life that I want to trust in like relationships, places, and future goals. God has been tugging at my heart, showing me daily that HE is trustworthy. He wants me to give Him those horses, horsemen, and chariots that I have gathered because they will fail me. He doesn’t want me to give them to Him to He can ruin my life. He is only looking out for my good because He knows that everything is going to go wrong if I place my trust in those things. No matter how safe I feel the enemy will still break through. The good God of the universe who sees the bigger picture is pleading with me to leave the illusion of protection that the chariots and horses provide and to run into His unfailing arms because His arm really does have the final say.

Application: In order to recognize those other places that I am distributing my trust I will write them down and then when I realize that I am looking at the waves instead of at Jesus I will pray that God will teach me how to trust only in Him.