We purchased five acres of land once only to find out at closing that it had no actual road frontage. It was not landlocked. It simply did not touch the road. The deed was recorded before the existing roadway was paved and the winding drive now passed by our property a dozen or so feet from the property line. We had noticed that when parcels on the other side of the road were surveyed, the pins reached into the middle of the road. Before we sold the parcel, we hired an attorney to track down the original owners. He contacted all living heirs to confirm their claim to that sliver of land separating us from the roadway was forfeit. Probably no one would ever have disputed our right to access but better safe than sorry. Legally, we were the rightful owners.
Truth be told, we are merely stewards of a trust, one that we take seriously because we believe that every good and perfect gift is from God and He will demand an account of how we invested what He entrusted to us. (Matthew 25) Jesus told a story about a landowner who leased his vineyard to tenants and moved to another country.
“At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop.
But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.
So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
“Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
“But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate.
Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
“When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”
Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’
I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.”
Matthew 21:34-43 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.21.34-42.NLT
“Look up toward the sky.
Who created everything you see?
The Lord causes the stars to come out at night one by one.
He calls out each one of them by name.
His power and strength are great.
So none of the stars is missing.
Family of Jacob, why do you complain, “The Lord doesn’t notice our condition”?
People of Israel, why do you say, “Our God doesn’t pay any attention to our rightful claims”?
Don’t you know who made everything?
Haven’t you heard about him?
The Lord is the God who lives forever.
He created everything on earth.
He won’t become worn out or get tired.
No one will ever know how great his understanding is.
He gives strength to those who are tired.
He gives power to those who are weak.
Even young people become worn out and get tired.
Even the best of them trip and fall.
But those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength.
They will fly as high as eagles.
They will run and not get tired.
They will walk and not grow weak.”
Isaiah 40:26-31 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/isa.40.26-31.NIRV
Isaiah witnessed the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to Assyria and he prophesied about the Babylonian captivity a century before it happened. John the Baptist quoted the third verse of Isaiah chapter forty, calling himself “a voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,” as his testimony before the Jewish leaders who came while he was baptizing at the Jordan. The very next day he announced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
“Remember what happened long ago; acknowledge that I alone am God and that there is no one else like me.
From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen.
I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.”
Isaiah 46:9-10 GNT
https://bible.com/bible/68/isa.46.9-10.GNT
Yet Israel complained.
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me. My God is not concerned with my vindication.” (v.27 NET)
“The Lord does not see our troubles. God ignores our rights.” (v.27 NLT)
“My way is hidden from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God.” (v.27 ESV)
“The Lord doesn’t know my troubles or care if I suffer injustice.” (v.27 GNT)
“My way is hidden from the Lord and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God.” (v.27 AMP)
Do any of these complaints sound vaguely familiar? I may be tempted towards this sort of futile thinking in difficult or frustrating times but my way is never invisible to the Lord. As He plainly saw Adam and Eve after they had eaten forbidden fruit, so my ways are ever before Him. God knows every step I take. (Job 23:10)
“Exiled Israel’s complaint implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps His jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe He is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue His people, or is unable to execute it. But verse twenty-eight affirms that He is not limited temporally or spatially nor is His power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver His people if they respond in hopeful faith.” (NET)
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth.
He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom.”
Isaiah 40:28 NET
https://bible.com/bible/107/isa.40.28.NET
“Who can ever understand the Spirit of the Lord?
Who can ever give him advice?
Did the Lord have to ask anyone to help him understand?
Did he have to ask someone to teach him the right way?
Who taught him what he knows?
Who showed him how to understand?
Don’t you know who made everything?
Haven’t you heard about him?
Hasn’t it been told to you from the beginning?
Haven’t you understood it ever since the earth was made?”
Isaiah 40:13-14, 21 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/isa.40.13-21.NIRV
Israel complained that God paid no attention to their condition, that He ignored their rightful claims but their thinking is entirely backwards. His claim was always on them, not the other way around. God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants to accomplish God’s own purposes. He waded through the muck and mire of their humanity, threatening to do away with them on more than one occasion and start over with Moses as he did with Noah but He held Himself to His covenant promise all the while. He brought His only begotten Son from the womb of a virgin in the line of David and of the tribe of Judah in spite of themselves. By the blood of Jesus and because of God’s faithfulness to His new covenant in Christ, I am saved. Anything good in me is a result of His claim on me. He remains with me as He promised and when my life on earth is over, I will be with the Lord forever.
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”
Psalms 139:6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.6.NLT
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
Psalms 8:3-8 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.8.3-8.NIV
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.40.31.NLT
I Am A Friend Of God ~Phillips, Craig & Dean https://youtu.be/lcxKRsn-hGc?is=u5QJ23rsaBQeYk5Z
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