Our Daily Bread – God with Us Age to Age

 

You whom I have upheld since your birth. . . . Even to your old age . . . I am he who will sustain you. Isaiah 46:3-4

Today’s Scripture

Isaiah 46:3-9

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Today’s Insights

In Isaiah 46:5, God asks, “With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?” The answer to this rhetorical question is that no one is like God. Often when the question “Who is like God?” is asked in the Bible, it’s answered in part by reflecting on an aspect of His matchless character. For example, in Psalm 71:19, the psalmist reflects on God’s surpassing righteousness, and in Micah 7:18, the prophet ponders God’s “unfailing love” (nlt). Other verses in the Old Testament that ponder the character of God, the one who will be with us forever, include Exodus 15:11; Deuteronomy 3:24; 2 Samuel 7:22; Psalm 86:8, 10; 89:6, 8; 113:5; and Isaiah 40:18, 25.

Today’s Devotional

A Danish study explored the phenomenon most of us have experienced: perceiving ourselves as younger than we really are. The findings suggest a constant—whatever our current age, we all see ourselves as 20 percent younger. A fifty-year-old tends to imagine herself as forty years old. (This conjures up a comical scenario in which a child thinks, “Wow, I’m five, but I feel I have the energy and looks of a four-year-old!”)

It doesn’t take a scientific study to state the obvious: We’re all growing older. And Scripture has much to say about this. Isaiah’s words were issued to an Israel that had aged and become weary, but as one commentator says, “This promise to Israel, enfeebled and grown old as a nation, is applicable to every aged follower of Christ.”

The prophet reminds us of God’s provision throughout the life of everyone who has been faithful to Him: “I have upheld [you] since your birth, and have carried [you] since you were born” (Isaiah 46:3).

So as we stew and fret about growing older, we’re reminded that God is still with us. He promises: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you” (v. 4). Whatever age you are (or the 20-percent-younger version you imagine yourself to be!), embrace today God’s promise: “I have made you and I will carry you” (v. 4).

Reflect & Pray

In what ways do you wrestle with concerns about aging? How do you find comfort in Isaiah’s words?

 

Dear God, I’m feeling weary and tired. Please give me Your strength. I ask that You sustain me and carry me.

The book of Isaiah mentions Cyrus the Great and how he will be used to accomplish God’s will. Learn more by clicking here.

 

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