Where to Turn

Hi, and welcome to today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional.

Our reading, titled Where to Turn, was written by Jennifer Benson Shoult. Everyone in high school admired Jack's easygoing attitude and athletic skill. He was happiest in midair above a half-pipe ramp, one hand holding a skateboard, the other stretched out for balance. Jack decided to follow Jesus after he started attending a local church. Up to that point, he'd endured significant family struggles and had used drugs to medicate his pain. For a while after his conversion, things seemed to be going well for him. But years later, he started using drugs again.

Without the proper intervention and ongoing treatment, he eventually died of an overdose. It's easy to turn back to what's familiar when we face difficulty. When the Israelites felt the distress of an upcoming Assyrian tack in Isaiah, chapter 30, they crawled back to the Egyptians, their former slave masters, for help. God predicted that this would be disastrous, but He continued to care for them, although they made the wrong choice. Isaiah voiced God's heart in verse 18. The Lord longs to be gracious to you, therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. This is God's attitude toward us. Even when we choose to look elsewhere, to numb our pain, He wants to help us. He doesn't want us to hurt ourselves with habits that create bondage.

Certain substances and actions tempt us with a quick sense of relief, but God wants to provide authentic healing as we walk closely with Him. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Isaiah, chapter 30, verses 12 through 18. Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says. Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly in an instant.

It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern. This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says. In repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength.

But you would have none of it. You said, No, we will flee on horses. Therefore, you will flee. You said, We will ride off on swift horses. Therefore your pursuers will be swift. A thousand will flee at the threat of one.

At the threat of five, you will all flee away till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice.

Blessed are those who wait for Him. Let's pray. Dear God, please set us free from sinful patterns that may temporarily numb our pain but in the end cause us great suffering. Help us to turn to you for our peace and relief. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening today. My name is Alisha Reisinger and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.