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Concerto

             Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. (Isaiah 25:1)

Isaiah lived in the eighth century BC, almost 3000 years ago. As I read this passage this morning, the part that stood out to me was “things planned long ago.” It’s embarrassing, but I found myself thinking, “Wait, they had that concept way back then?” Yes, and David lived six hundred years before Isaiah, and Adam and Eve long before David, and there are at least hints of a plan going all the way back to Genesis 3.

I was going to confess to temporal snobbery, and that might be there, but the positive side of it is that this morning, I’m once again impressed with God’s action through time, His involvement with people, His wisdom, His power, and – oddly – His proximity.

He has done wonderful things and continues to do wonderful things. Those wonderful things might not be things we enjoy or approve, but they inspire wonder. I’ve heard rumors of wonderful things happening in Russia’s attack on the Ukraine. I’m not approving of Russia’s actions, and I don’t know if the miraculous events are true, but I’ve heard rumors.  God is in control even there.

For all some people complain about the current administration in the US (and I’m not fond of it), those who think it is wrong are getting up and being active – not sleepwalking as they tended to do when they agreed with the administration. And God is in control. We don’t understand. We don’t approve. All we can do is stand and watch, and see what God does next.

And I find myself saying, “I want to see. Let me see!” I so want to behold His wonder, but I don’t understand what I’m looking at. I can only see through a glass darkly. And now I’m on the verge of tears because when I got up this morning, my earworm was singing, “Open My Eyes, Lord, I Want To See Jesus.”

And three thousand years later, Isaiah reminds us that we are part of God’s plan. We’re in the orchestra, and we’re playing a concerto. That means there’s a director (the Father) and a soloist (Jesus) but that we all have a part to play. If we weren’t here, the concerto would be fine, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t contribute. The concerto focuses on the soloist, but if only the soloist played, it wouldn’t be a concerto. We are part of the composition, and it’s not only natural for us to marvel at the soloist, but also to be eager to play a part that matters, that was written for us.

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