God Will Deliver You

Your sun will never set; your moon will not go down. For the LORD will be your everlasting light. Your days of mourning will come to an end.

Isaiah 60:20

ISRAEL WAS ON the ropes. Jerusalem had been sacked and destroyed, the nation had been conquered, the youth and great men of Israel had been taken into slavery, and the people certainly had little hope of a great future. It looked as if the end had come. All the great promises of God in the Scriptures appeared to be grim jokes.

The worst part was that the people knew they had brought it on themselves. God had warned them over and over that desolation and doom were coming if they did not repent and get their “houses” in order. The book of Habakkuk was written as a prophet’s appeal to God about the rank sin in Israel’s midst. So God finally took action, disciplining Israel severely with defeat and destruction.

God never leaves people he’s disciplined without hope, though, and he gave Israel the words above to assure them that their punishment wasn’t the end. God would later restore Israel to a right relationship with him and then send Jesus to accomplish complete forgiveness and redemption.

Have you thought your own sins and errors might have brought down God’s hand of discipline on your life? Take heart. God disciplines only to correct bad behavior, not to crush you entirely and destroy your life. Look to him. Repent. Ask for his forgiveness and help. He will restore you. He will once again shine as “your everlasting light.”