Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, June 10, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Nah nah nah nah boo boo. You can’t get us. So Isaiah declares to those who would plot against God’s beloved people. He exhorts God’s people to walk away from the ways of other nations—to not fear what they fear, to not buy into the conspiracy theories (yes, it says that) of others. Stick to the actual truth of God’s love.
The childish opening to this devotion aside, the message still stands. We are surrounded by a million clamoring voices all trying to get us to believe that if we don’t think a certain way, we’re all going to hell (literally) in a handbasket (a metaphor I’ve never quite understood) and that the answer is to subscribe to an oppressive regime of white supremacy, Christian nationalism, xenophobia, and I could go on.
God isn’t having it. “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what it fears or be in dread,” Isaiah proclaims. Fall back into the truth that God is the one in charge, not us, and our job is to love as God loves. End of story.
What am I afraid of in this day and age? How do I work with God through my fear?
