The Lord of Hosts has sworn: As I have planned, so it will be; as I have planned it, so it will happen. I will break Assyria in My land; I will tread him down on My mountain. Then his yoke will be taken from them, and his burden will be removed from their shoulders. This is the plan prepared for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out against all the nations. The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it; therefore, who can stand in its way? It is His hand that is outstretched, so who can turn it back? Isaiah 14:24-27
My words…
Praise
It’s been an oft-debated question among Your uppity creation: How much control do You really have? I live in a very big and powerful nation. It’s like a hyperactive child – hard to control. My nation is splintered. Hostility is rising. Divisions are widening. Satan is having a field day. But I don’t believe for once second that You are not in control. You hear the prayers of my countrymen and women. You bless the millions of souls who have not bowed their knee to any other god. You delight in the faithful who preserve and study Your words, who revere and adore the Bible. You strengthen the parents who tirelessly teach their children how much You love them. How do You control the nations? No idea. But we have Your full attention. And that’s all I need to know.
Prayer for me
Lord, I need something from You. Would you impart to me the wisdom I need to comfort others with the assurance that You are in control of the nation? No one seems to believe me. “There is so much evil,” they say. “So much inequality. God is just watching everything spin.” Open my mind and heart to receive Your word and share with others the same peace I hold dear.
Forgive me
I have prayed that I have complete faith in Your control of the nations. But there are times when a wriggling worm of doubt wrecks my day. Like when a godless nation carries out mass murder of the innocent. Or a power-hungry, overweight dictator starves his own countrymen, women, and children. Forgive my lack of faith. You see all. You see beyond time and space. I see what’s in front of me.
Prayer for others
Lord, there are those who this very day are in despair because they have lost hope. They believed at one time that Your omnipotence reigned over the nations of the earth. But now they are oppressed or enslaved or abandoned, and they have cried their faith away. Restore their trust in You in heavenly ways, unknown by mortals. Transform them into messengers of Your love. Fill them with hope of a heavenly reward.
Thank You
Thank You for being in control. (I realize that that is like You saying to me, “Thank you for being a person.”) Because You aren’t just a spectator-god, I can sleep peacefully at night. Thankfully, Your hand is never idle.
More Praise
When You are in control, there is no power or principality that can oppose the plan You have set. Your outstretched hand is more powerful than any army commanded by a human general or Satan himself. How praiseworthy is that?!
