Oh To Be Wise Meditations

People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Yes, The Lord has given you trouble and sorrow as your food and drink. But now you will again see the Lord, your teacher, and he will guide you. But “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. Amen. Why do we stray off the path of righteousness? Because we are not listening to God's law. Our hearts must be daily in the word so we can have sound wisdom that is building our faith and trust in God. We can get so far from God that we don't even want to hear a word from the LORD. We would rather hear things that makes our flesh comfortable. So we can stay in our sins and not be reminded of God. We harden our heart and Holy Spirit cannot penetrate within us to soften. So the LORD gives us the bread of adversity and the water of affliction so perhaps your heart would soften in suffering and receive Grace and Mercy from the LORD in your time of need. God is be patient with rebellious people. The LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you" Is. 30:18-19. When rebellious people finally turn back to God, He will be there waiting for them. So when the bread of adversity comes and the water of affliction comes eat and drink it humbly. God will send His Spirit as well as godly people again to guide and teach those who are lost and confused. They will have some hard lessons to learn, but they will not abandon their teachers as they did in the past. Instead, the words of their teachers will be there right with them, helping them make the right choices. The LORD knows how to feed the bitter soul with affliction and adversity. And then get a hunger for righteousness that satisfies the soul.