Daily Devotions: January 10, 2017

Daily Devotions: January 10, 2017

Isaiah 49:5-7

“…he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’’ vs. 6

In these verses, the prophet is speaking of Israel in very personal terms, as the servant of God, and indicates that her mission has been expanded. The exile in Babylon should not be thought of as the failure of God’s plan for the tribes of Israel, but as an opportunity for the servant to be used in an even more spectacular way to reach all the people of the earth. This is standard operating procedure for the Lord. We see it particularly in the mission of Jesus. He came to his own people proclaiming the coming kingdom. His own people rejected him, even putting him to death, but the grave could not hold him, and he became the light of the world. The same sort of thing happens regularly on a lesser scale in the lives of Jesus’ followers. When our initial plan for mission falls flat on its face, something new is born, and the results are more spectacular than anyone even dreamed possible. It really is the sort of thing we should come to expect as we do God’s work. A closed door only means that a new door is going to open and there will be new opportunities to bear fruit.

Thought for the Day: Times when my initial dream has been too small.

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