Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight…Their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty. Isaiah 5:21, 24.

We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You. Psalm 33:20-22.

A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. Titus 1:2.

I loved this from You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “Intuitively, we know that it is important to spend time in solitude. We even start looking forward to this strange period of uselessness. This desire for solitude is often the first sign of prayer, the first indication that the presence of God’s Spirit no longer remains unnoticed. As we empty ourselves of our many worries, we come to know not only with our mind but also with our heart that we never were really alone, that God’s Spirit was with us all along. Thus we come to understand what Paul writes to the Romans, “Suffering brings patience…and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (Romans 5:4-5). In solitude, we come to know the Spirit who has already been given to us. The pains and struggles we encounter in our solitude thus become the way to hope, because our hope is not based on something that will happen after our sufferings are over, but on the real presence of God’s healing Spirit in the midst of these sufferings. The discipline of solitude allows us gradually to come in touch with this hopeful presence of God in our lives, and allows us to taste even now the beginnings of the joy and peace that belong to the new heaven and the new earth.”

And in our chapter, Zechariah 10, Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, reminds us Who He is. Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone. The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. v. 1-2. Only God gives the comfort and help needed right in the midst of sufferings. Without realizing He, and not any idol, is here with us…Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd. “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for His flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle. From Judah will come the Cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler…I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them…I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before. Though I scatter them among the peoples, yet in distant lands they will remember Me. They and their children will survive, and they will return…I will strengthen them in the Lord and in His name they will live securely,” declares the Lord. v. 2-4, 6, 8-9, 12.

I used to read the Old Testament and wonder why all this fuss about a people long dead; what about us alive and living today, so far removed from those events of long ago? But when you reach that point where only the truth will speak to the confusion and distress of your spirit, it is Creator God and Him alone, who brings understanding. And you begin to appreciate the incredible trust and faith the ancients had, as well as the same confusions and distresses we experience today. Life lived without the help of our Creator is distinctly different from the life we live with His help. With His help, I am beginning to understand how much I need to let go – of control I never truly had. And with His help, that isn’t as frightening as it once was because only then, by letting go, can I realize Creator God has us and we are in better hands – His hands. The world still goes on with the hate, wars, divisions, self will above all else…and I can’t change that. But I can walk with our Creator God. I can be willing to learn with Him what is truly important…A new command I give to you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35. Can you imagine hearing that all those millennia ago? A new thing so profound, it was shocking in its truth. It’s shocking still today. Ask anyone if they love and pray for their enemies. Then ask yourself. And we wonder why today we still have the problems the ancients experienced. And Creator God answers still; and it doesn’t get any easier without Him helping us. Henri Nouwen had the right of it…”The discipline of solitude allows us gradually to come in touch with this hopeful presence of God in our lives, and allows us also to taste even now the beginnings of the joy and peace that belong to the new heaven and the new earth.” Even now!