What is the Vision of Revival? Isaiah 54:4-6, The Eternal Covenant of Peace

⁴ “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;

    be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

    and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

⁵ For your Maker is your husband,

    the Lord of hosts is his name;

and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,

    the God of the whole earth he is called.

⁶ For the Lord has called you

    like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,

like a wife of youth when she is cast off,

    says your God.

Is this task of growing and going too big for us?

This section of Isaiah begins with the most common command in the Bible: do not be afraid. What is paralyzing you from following Jesus on the way? What is paralyzing you from moving beyond acknowledging Jesus as your Savior and making him the Lord, the Leader of your life? What is paralyzing you from opening up yourself today in unabashed worship? I know what it is. It is the same for me: fear. I’m afraid I’ll fail and suffer shame, disgrace, and humiliation. 

But wait a minute . . . Whose are we? Isaiah says in verses 5 and 6, For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is he name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit.

God does not leave us in exile. He is not unapproachable or unknowable. We can have the most intimate relationship with him. Fear can be replaced with security because we are in a sense married to God. He is our Redeemer and protector.

In the exile Israel was afraid. She turned to other gods. Now God is calling her back, reminding her that he is her husband and to end her adulterous relationships.

The temptation is the same for us today—to stray to the gods of money, power, and sex. One of the reasons God says give 10% of your income to me, is that he knows we need to be protected from trusting in our money rather than in him. Did you know that if everyone who regularly worships at most churches gave between 5 and 10% of their income, the church's budget could easily double or triple.

Now I’m not suggesting we be like the Pharisee and compare ourselves to others, but let’s look at our own faithfulness to God. Let’s be like the taxman, who has a right vision of himself before God. He knows the honor God deserves.

Giving to God is between you and him, just as intimacy in marriage is between a husband and a wife. It is a private affair, but you know what happens in a marriage when one partner doesn’t give to the other. It isn’t a real marriage. Are you committed to bringing your best to God? Or do you see him as someone you can get by with on the cheap? He’s given his best to you in his Son, Jesus.